DALLAS — Kyrie Irving liked the way Jason Kidd came to Luka Doncic’s defense after the Mavericks guard was heavily criticized for both his defense and his complaining to the officials in Dallas’ Game 3 loss to the Celtics.
But Irving said that Doncic needed to hear the criticism about his treatment of the officials. He thought Doncic handled things much better in the Mavericks’ 122-84 win in Game 4.
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“What we have to also account for is we’re in a very physical game. When you’re getting beat up like that out there every single play, you’re going to have something to say to the refs,” Irving said. “In Luka’s case, his relationship with the refs is not always the healthiest during games. The referees are humans, too. We have to respect what they do. They’re a big part of this game, too. It could sway either way. I think what you’re seeing is him just taking accountability as best he can at this point in his life. He’s a young person, still trying to figure it out. I give him that grace.”
Irving said the team gave Doncic that message.
“Also, we have to give him a little tough love where we let him know and reiterate you got to stay off those guys a little bit,” he said. “It’s just lessons being learned. When he is locked in like that, not paying attention to the refs, he’s a huge, impactful player for us, and a great leader for us. We want him to stay consistent on that and not be too hard on himself either. If he gets a tech, so be it. No one is batting an eye. If we’re trying to get back into the game and we need the refs, there has to be a different perspective, different approach you got to take.
“Sometimes a good conversation works with the refs. Sometimes eye-to-eye conversation works with them,” he said. “When you’re (expletive) talking them, M-F’ing them all the time, it can get to them too,” he continued. “I’m not saying we’re all perfect, but we have to use everything to our advantage on a positive note.”
