ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith: Hold Luka Doncic Accountable for Jalen Brunson Leaving Mavs for Knicks?

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith claims Luka Doncic should have done more for the Mavs to keep Jalen Brunson before he opted to leave for the Knicks.

DALLAS — In the latest string of negatively-slanted national media commentary focused on Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic amid arguably his best stretch of play in his NBA career, he is now the focus of criticism regarding front-office decisions and execution. 

During Tuesday's episode of ESPN's "First Take," Stephen A. Smith questioned whether Doncic should be "held accountable" for not pushing the Mavs to keep Brunson before he departed to join the New York Knicks on a four-year, $104 million contract in free agency. 

"Do we hold Luka accountable for not insisting that Dallas keep Brunson? And not only that question, do we also look at the Dallas Mavericks and ask this question? Was Kyrie a better option than Brunson? Because when they had Brunson, they were in the Conference Finals," Smith said. "You didn't make the playoffs last year."

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Smith questioned whether Brunson would be a better backcourt option than Irving, considering Brunson's reliability as the Knicks' floor general while shouldering so much responsibility. The Mavs missing in the play-in tournament last season essentially boiled down to Doncic and Irving not guiding Dallas well enough. 

"I'm looking at Dallas, and I'm looking at Luka, who we all love and know as a superstar. But damn, should you have insisted that Jalen Brunson be kept in Dallas? Right now, nobody's brought this up. I haven't heard anybody bring this up. When we talk about Dallas, we say Luka and Kyrie, but we ignore it."

"You had Brunson. He was there, and he went to the Western Conference Finals," Smith continued. "They wouldn't even offer him 80 until it was time for him to go because he had 104 on the table from the Knicks. I'm just saying we have to start asking that question."

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The recent national media commentary surrounding Doncic has focused on many negative slants. Whether he's complaining too much to referees, shouldn't have gotten a fan thrown out of a game, or has benefited from defensive rules that now suddenly need to be overhauled after scoring 73 points, there has rarely been simple appreciation for one of basketball's most extraordinary talents. Now we can add: "Should have been a better general manager" to the list of criticisms. 

Doncic has averaged 34.7 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 9.6 assists on the season. His production has only increased the more he's been needed to lead the Mavs while injuries to key players have continued, including without Kyrie Irving. Over his last three games, he's averaged 48.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 13.0 assists.