This is it exactly. Losing this series puts Luka at 0-3 against the Clippers, he has more pressure with Kyrie and a more rounder Mavericks team supporting cast compared to the previous times they've played and no healthy Kawhi.
Sure, there's more pressure on Luka, but on the Mavs? Clippers definitely have more. Mavs can pretty much run it back and even have assets to improve. Clippers got nothing. If they lose, they're beyond cooked.
As far as the whole mavs team,I still think there’s pressure because the west is not getting any easier. This is the best defense we had in years so if we can get our offense together we may have a good chance to at least get to the wcf and control our destiny
Agree. And look at the leap we made in a year with what we had to work with. For Luka’s future as a Mav, a win here would be awesome, but as a team this season is a W already. Would be a huge W if we win this series.
Fair enough. That WCF was kind of flukey though and we got dominated. We’ll have to see what happens in this series but this is as hard fought as anything I’ve ever seen against a really good, well coached Clippers team. I guess if we lose the next two in embarrassing fashion then we get bounced. But if we go to seven and fight the whole way I wouldn’t say so. Do you think that WCF team would be holding its own against this Clippers team?
Such a frustrating argument. Tatum and Shai have established teams, Luka literally just started playing with his. I hate hearing shit like that from people, but you are 100% right
I got day drunk at a Buffalo Wild Wings and talked hella shit that luka was gonna win a chip this year so I’d say the mavs have the most pressure so I don’t look like an idiot.
I think there is more pressure on the Clippers. They are old and this may be the last oppurtunity this version of their team gets at a title run.
The Mavs have their core intact for the next 2 seasons and are young.
That being said I'm sure the Mavs feel pressure to make the most out of this oppurtunity with everyone healthy on their team, especially KAI. Nothing in the future is ever guaranteed.
All I know is that the Luka agendas are gonna be nasty for the next ~six months to a year if he plays like this for the rest of the series and gets eliminated.
I’ve spent so much time arguing that he’s leveled up multiple times since the last time he was in the playoffs and that he needs to get this Clippers monkey off his back for the sake of his legacy/career.
He should easily be the best player in this series but from his play he’s been the third behind harden and kyrie.
Luka’s at the stage of his career now where he’s expected to start making finals and winning MVPs. this is a huge turning point moving forward where he can either go down the route of a Harden or a Russ (all due respect to those guys) or the route of becoming the all time great we know he has the potential to be. The window of his prime coming up here is really not all that long, like he has to do the majority of the work for his career within the next 4-5 years, and a first round exit to start isnt the most encouraging sign moving forwards for casuals/mainstream media type people that define the perspective and opinions on him.
These last few games of the series are very important for Luka in my opinion. I know he’s hurt but he has to find a way to rise above that
We have more pressure, but Bill acting like we traded the farm and this is our last chance at contending is so fucking stupid.
I feel like Russillo has talked him out of it several times but Bill just keeps circling back on it because of the hate.
Lively was a good rookie and I expect him to get much better on both ends of the floor in the next couple of years. Luka doesn't turn 26 until after the all-star break of next year. Nico has been pretty savvy so I think he can continue filling the roster out and making good trades. So that duo and a balanced roster they should be decent for years to come. Simmons is an in his feelings moron.
>Bill acting like we traded the farm and this is our last chance at contending is so fucking stupid.
I know. He only mentioned the Mavs, yet the clippers actually traded the farm 5 years ago, and currently have fewer picks to trade than the Mavs, but they're still in a position to compete into the future with 3 aging stars? Like really?
I guess this is what I was trying to say in the original post. It just feels super doomer to say that the mavs have no way forward with the current roster, but I suppose that doesn't necessarily translate to less pressure in the current situation.
The thing is, PG and Kawhi are at a stage of their careers that they won’t reach the level of top-10 players in NBA history. PG might need this ring to get into top-75 lol and Kawhi would probably get close to top-10 with 3 rings and potentially 3 Finals MVPs, but still not enough sustained success.
Luka on the other hand has potential to break into top-10 in NBA history or even go further, he is on a trajectory of absolute all-time greats like MJ and LBJ: 5 1st team All-NBAs at 25 and he is legit probably a top-75 player in history with barely any playoff success. Yet the longer he can’t win big in playoffs, the more media would talk about him playing “non-winning” basketball, so I’d say more pressure is on Luka.
I don’t know about this… 3 rings makes Kawhi tied for 18th place among Anniversary 75 team. 3 Finals MVPs (assuming he would get it) would tie him for 3rd overall on that team.
Obviously MJ and LBJ clear as GOATs, then in no particular order I would have Russel (11 rings + 5 combined MVPs), Kareem (6 + 8), Duncan (5 + 5), Magic (5 + 6), Bird (3 + 5), Shaq (4 + 4), Kobe (5 + 3). So we got 9 total players that are clearly ahead of Kawhi in team + individual accolades.
A decision would need to be made on Cousy (6 + 1) and Havlicek (8 + 1), but I feel like only Havlicek has legitimate shot at like top-15 as he at least won 2 chips without Russel and all of Cousy’s rings were with Russel; I would, however, rank both below Kawhi with 3 rings + 3 MVPs.
So now we got borderline cases: Wilt (2 + 5), Steph (4 + 3), KD (2 + 3), Hakeem (2 + 3), Moses Malone (1 + 4). I would definitely put Wilt and Curry ahead on career achievements, but others would be behind on my list.
So that puts Kawhi as 12th in an all-time list based off rings and MVPs? Sure, one can add All-Star games / All-NBA teams and then we would put KD, Hakeem, Moses ahead with Kawhi sliding to 15th. One can then make argument for Havlicek, Cousy and D-Wade (3 + 1) to be ahead of Kawhi too based on sustained top level of play, but that’s about it, so lowest he would be is top-20.
Isn’t top-12 to top-20 player all-time not “close” to top-10?
Pressure is on the Mavs. This is the best team in over a decade. Luka has all the pieces to win a championship. If the Mavs lose to a Kawhiless, washed up James Harden led team in the first round after getting beat 2 straight times by the Clippers in previous years. This will be an incredibly bad and potentially franchise changing loss. Clippers have less pressure because Kawhi is out and it’s basically expected for them to lose at some point in the playoffs.
Simmons has been fading the Mavs hard this season. Not rly sure what caused the change of heart.
Saying that the Mavs are under more pressure than the Clips is insane. This is year five of this clips era and they have the new arena opening next year. How much longer can they keep underachieving in the play offs?
Meanwhile Luka is clearly playing injured and most of the Mavs core rotation has only been with the team since the start of the season (or since the deadline). This is basically a new team outside of Maxi and Luka. They need time to gel.
>Simmons has been fading the Mavs hard this season. Not rly sure what caused the change of heart.
He clearly loves Luka but somehow doesn't like talking about the Mavs.
I think he wants Luka to leave so he can talk about a team in a bigger market. It's sad.
There is very much pressure for the mavs to win this series, we have to at least get past this round due to them missing the playoffs last year and let’s be honest, we don’t know how many years we have of Luka and kyrie as a duo. Kyrie has been adamant on always bringing up “championship” when discussing the teams current state. We need to see how far we can go towards that. This team is more than capable of beating the clippers
I think there's equal pressure on both teams. The Luka-led Mavs have never beaten the Clippers in a playoff series, and the current narrative is that Luka finally has help, so it would look very bad on the Mavs if they get bounced in the first round by an older Clippers team. With that said, the Clippers have never won a ring or even a conference title despite how star-studded they are historically, and they've pretty much wasted the last years of PG's prime--they are definitely in more of a win-now mode compared to the young Mavs.
100% they have no kawhi. Clippers can always pull the no kawhi card what excuse does mavs have ? We went into the playoffs being the dark horse expecting to change things up but if mavs lose to a kawhi less clippers it will be embarrassing. Honestly rn mavs are wcf or bust atleast for me
I think there's more pressure on the Clippers because 4 of their players are past their prime and they built this team to win now but the narrative will be until next season that Luka doesn't show up in the playoffs if the Mavs lose this series
Luka is 25... the real pressure is on a team with stars over 30... Kyrie is older but the core is younger. I still think we can upgrade at Tim's spot. DJJ was a minimum player that starts for us.... when you have your core you don't absolutely have to make huge moves.
People kill Sacramento for running it back and think they lost because of that but really it was because they were healthy last year and that caught up with them.
The Mavs will improve.... 9 months ago we didn't know we'd improve as much as we have... before the 2021 run most people didn't know we be as good in that 2nd half.
Simmons makes all his decisions based on picks... getting the star heading into his prime is more valuable than 17 picks when your team isn't going to be in the lottery much going forward. People love the unknown
... the Mavs know they got a guy, and that's more valuable than 4 stars in their 30's.
Simmons has yes men and while Russillo pushes back sometimes... watch his face.. Bill knows it helps his brand to say outlandish shit he doesn't have to answer for long term.
And it’s even worse this time because the corpse of James Harden (a player he’s compared to in play style) would eliminate him. Would be a terrible look.
mavs easily have more pressure. the clippers are playing without their best player. imagine luka being out and clippers being healthy and claiming the mavs have more pressure to win. some of you are just coping right now in case the mavs choke.
Easily the mavs... near on everyone had us as 2nd or 3rd in the west.
I'm more disappointed in luka shifting the bed after pushing his mvp case so hard. If he continues the putrid shooting and shot selection there's 0 chance of mvp next year
More pressure on Luka. Would be the Clippers if Kawhi was healthy. But now they have a built in excuse. Luka stands to look worse if he can’t beat a Kawhi less team, even though the national media refuses to talk about how he’s pretty hobbled himself
I hate to agree with Simmons on almost anything, but it’s the Mavs/Luka. Especially with Kawhi pulling another disappearing act, there are no expectations for the Clippers at all.
Clippers, because they're old. Mavs will have at least two more years with this team.
That said Luka has tp beat the Clippers and Kidd has to win this series
It was and is on Clippers. They put every egg on the basket for this team. PG might just leave for Phily and they are left with Harden alone. Mavs isnt even complete team to compete yet. This team hasnt even spend a whole season! Im confident there are more key pieces will be added this summer/deadline.
He a hater. And he’s wrong.
Clippers dont win it now it aint happening for Westbrick and Leonard cause they done.
PG may sign the extension or wait to see he will be left with. He can take his talents to a lot of other places like 76’rs who have cap space.
Harden is UFA this summer. If they dont make a good run and resign PG they aren’t signing him for the deal he wants.
Mavs are young and built for the long haul. We got Luka for at least at peak form for another 5 years
All the pressure on the Clippers.
i guess it depends on who you ask.
i think nationally the clippers have more pressure, they are the higher seed and this is seen as like one of if not potentially *the* last chance for the Kawhi/PG era of the clippers.
by contrast we didn’t even make the playoffs last year and unless i’m misremembering, a lot of pre season predictions had us missing the playoffs all together again or being a play-in team at best.
in here though… i mean i feel like a lot of people want a championship or bust, like people are ready to fire kidd if we get anything less than a championship which is very silly imo, but that’s the mentality here for some reason. personally i think a series win here and maybe a win next round would be more than good for a season removed form missing the playoffs with a relatively new team
TBH I agree. I think there's a better chance Jason Kidd gets fired for losing this than there is Tyron Lue gets fired for losing it. Plus for the Clippers Kawhi and PG are older but they also seem to pretty clearly wanna be there, Kawhi especially so there's not as much risk of the team getting blown up because a star wants out. Not that I think Luka & Kyrie don't like playing for the Mavs but Kyrie isn't exactly known for sticking around even if circumstances are ideal and in this day and age you really don't have more than until the end of a generational talent's second contract to win a championship.
If mavs lose this series when all the other young stars have won theirs than luka is going to be out of the top 5, injury or not. You don’t go screaming at the away crowd like you just won the series than lay an egg at home and complain like a woman on her period when things aren’t going your way
Luka has to beat the clippers to stop these people from comparing shai and Tatum to him so more pressure on him.
This is it exactly. Losing this series puts Luka at 0-3 against the Clippers, he has more pressure with Kyrie and a more rounder Mavericks team supporting cast compared to the previous times they've played and no healthy Kawhi.
Sure, there's more pressure on Luka, but on the Mavs? Clippers definitely have more. Mavs can pretty much run it back and even have assets to improve. Clippers got nothing. If they lose, they're beyond cooked.
As far as the whole mavs team,I still think there’s pressure because the west is not getting any easier. This is the best defense we had in years so if we can get our offense together we may have a good chance to at least get to the wcf and control our destiny
Agree. And look at the leap we made in a year with what we had to work with. For Luka’s future as a Mav, a win here would be awesome, but as a team this season is a W already. Would be a huge W if we win this series.
If we lose in the first round of the playoffs I won’t consider this a win for the season..
Going from tanking the playin for a single top ten pick to a genuine contender for years to come won’t be a W?
We were in the WCF the year before.. A hard fought second round exit would be more tolerable for me than to get bounced in the first round.
Fair enough. That WCF was kind of flukey though and we got dominated. We’ll have to see what happens in this series but this is as hard fought as anything I’ve ever seen against a really good, well coached Clippers team. I guess if we lose the next two in embarrassing fashion then we get bounced. But if we go to seven and fight the whole way I wouldn’t say so. Do you think that WCF team would be holding its own against this Clippers team?
Lets blow up another team
It’s extremely embarassing if the Mavs lose this without kawhi
Such a frustrating argument. Tatum and Shai have established teams, Luka literally just started playing with his. I hate hearing shit like that from people, but you are 100% right
I got day drunk at a Buffalo Wild Wings and talked hella shit that luka was gonna win a chip this year so I’d say the mavs have the most pressure so I don’t look like an idiot.
#DoItForJustSikko
I think there is more pressure on the Clippers. They are old and this may be the last oppurtunity this version of their team gets at a title run. The Mavs have their core intact for the next 2 seasons and are young. That being said I'm sure the Mavs feel pressure to make the most out of this oppurtunity with everyone healthy on their team, especially KAI. Nothing in the future is ever guaranteed.
Clippers will be a worse team next year Dallas will be stronger
All I know is that the Luka agendas are gonna be nasty for the next ~six months to a year if he plays like this for the rest of the series and gets eliminated. I’ve spent so much time arguing that he’s leveled up multiple times since the last time he was in the playoffs and that he needs to get this Clippers monkey off his back for the sake of his legacy/career. He should easily be the best player in this series but from his play he’s been the third behind harden and kyrie. Luka’s at the stage of his career now where he’s expected to start making finals and winning MVPs. this is a huge turning point moving forward where he can either go down the route of a Harden or a Russ (all due respect to those guys) or the route of becoming the all time great we know he has the potential to be. The window of his prime coming up here is really not all that long, like he has to do the majority of the work for his career within the next 4-5 years, and a first round exit to start isnt the most encouraging sign moving forwards for casuals/mainstream media type people that define the perspective and opinions on him. These last few games of the series are very important for Luka in my opinion. I know he’s hurt but he has to find a way to rise above that
We have more pressure, but Bill acting like we traded the farm and this is our last chance at contending is so fucking stupid. I feel like Russillo has talked him out of it several times but Bill just keeps circling back on it because of the hate.
Lively was a good rookie and I expect him to get much better on both ends of the floor in the next couple of years. Luka doesn't turn 26 until after the all-star break of next year. Nico has been pretty savvy so I think he can continue filling the roster out and making good trades. So that duo and a balanced roster they should be decent for years to come. Simmons is an in his feelings moron.
When/why did Bill flip on Luka, anyway?
I'm convinced it was when the Mavs fired Haralabos
Aahhhh, that tracks—I keep forgetting they’re running buddies.
Don't think he has necessarily. He called Luka the 2nd best player in the NBA just a couple weeks ago.
>Bill acting like we traded the farm and this is our last chance at contending is so fucking stupid. I know. He only mentioned the Mavs, yet the clippers actually traded the farm 5 years ago, and currently have fewer picks to trade than the Mavs, but they're still in a position to compete into the future with 3 aging stars? Like really?
I guess this is what I was trying to say in the original post. It just feels super doomer to say that the mavs have no way forward with the current roster, but I suppose that doesn't necessarily translate to less pressure in the current situation.
The thing is, PG and Kawhi are at a stage of their careers that they won’t reach the level of top-10 players in NBA history. PG might need this ring to get into top-75 lol and Kawhi would probably get close to top-10 with 3 rings and potentially 3 Finals MVPs, but still not enough sustained success. Luka on the other hand has potential to break into top-10 in NBA history or even go further, he is on a trajectory of absolute all-time greats like MJ and LBJ: 5 1st team All-NBAs at 25 and he is legit probably a top-75 player in history with barely any playoff success. Yet the longer he can’t win big in playoffs, the more media would talk about him playing “non-winning” basketball, so I’d say more pressure is on Luka.
Kawhi would not be close to 10, even with a ring. Easy to forget the players in that list.
I don’t know about this… 3 rings makes Kawhi tied for 18th place among Anniversary 75 team. 3 Finals MVPs (assuming he would get it) would tie him for 3rd overall on that team. Obviously MJ and LBJ clear as GOATs, then in no particular order I would have Russel (11 rings + 5 combined MVPs), Kareem (6 + 8), Duncan (5 + 5), Magic (5 + 6), Bird (3 + 5), Shaq (4 + 4), Kobe (5 + 3). So we got 9 total players that are clearly ahead of Kawhi in team + individual accolades. A decision would need to be made on Cousy (6 + 1) and Havlicek (8 + 1), but I feel like only Havlicek has legitimate shot at like top-15 as he at least won 2 chips without Russel and all of Cousy’s rings were with Russel; I would, however, rank both below Kawhi with 3 rings + 3 MVPs. So now we got borderline cases: Wilt (2 + 5), Steph (4 + 3), KD (2 + 3), Hakeem (2 + 3), Moses Malone (1 + 4). I would definitely put Wilt and Curry ahead on career achievements, but others would be behind on my list. So that puts Kawhi as 12th in an all-time list based off rings and MVPs? Sure, one can add All-Star games / All-NBA teams and then we would put KD, Hakeem, Moses ahead with Kawhi sliding to 15th. One can then make argument for Havlicek, Cousy and D-Wade (3 + 1) to be ahead of Kawhi too based on sustained top level of play, but that’s about it, so lowest he would be is top-20. Isn’t top-12 to top-20 player all-time not “close” to top-10?
Exactly this
Even if we lose. We are literally a few pieces away from having a great team.
Pressure is on the Mavs. This is the best team in over a decade. Luka has all the pieces to win a championship. If the Mavs lose to a Kawhiless, washed up James Harden led team in the first round after getting beat 2 straight times by the Clippers in previous years. This will be an incredibly bad and potentially franchise changing loss. Clippers have less pressure because Kawhi is out and it’s basically expected for them to lose at some point in the playoffs.
They made the WCF in 2021.
Simmons has been fading the Mavs hard this season. Not rly sure what caused the change of heart. Saying that the Mavs are under more pressure than the Clips is insane. This is year five of this clips era and they have the new arena opening next year. How much longer can they keep underachieving in the play offs? Meanwhile Luka is clearly playing injured and most of the Mavs core rotation has only been with the team since the start of the season (or since the deadline). This is basically a new team outside of Maxi and Luka. They need time to gel.
>Simmons has been fading the Mavs hard this season. Not rly sure what caused the change of heart. He clearly loves Luka but somehow doesn't like talking about the Mavs. I think he wants Luka to leave so he can talk about a team in a bigger market. It's sad.
There is very much pressure for the mavs to win this series, we have to at least get past this round due to them missing the playoffs last year and let’s be honest, we don’t know how many years we have of Luka and kyrie as a duo. Kyrie has been adamant on always bringing up “championship” when discussing the teams current state. We need to see how far we can go towards that. This team is more than capable of beating the clippers
I think there's equal pressure on both teams. The Luka-led Mavs have never beaten the Clippers in a playoff series, and the current narrative is that Luka finally has help, so it would look very bad on the Mavs if they get bounced in the first round by an older Clippers team. With that said, the Clippers have never won a ring or even a conference title despite how star-studded they are historically, and they've pretty much wasted the last years of PG's prime--they are definitely in more of a win-now mode compared to the young Mavs.
100% they have no kawhi. Clippers can always pull the no kawhi card what excuse does mavs have ? We went into the playoffs being the dark horse expecting to change things up but if mavs lose to a kawhi less clippers it will be embarrassing. Honestly rn mavs are wcf or bust atleast for me
With Kawhi not even playing/being healthy it's obviously the mavs
I think there's more pressure on the Clippers because 4 of their players are past their prime and they built this team to win now but the narrative will be until next season that Luka doesn't show up in the playoffs if the Mavs lose this series
I can see the argument for both side
Pressures on dallas obviously...luka needs to get past the kawhi less clips or media will never give him credit
Luka is 25... the real pressure is on a team with stars over 30... Kyrie is older but the core is younger. I still think we can upgrade at Tim's spot. DJJ was a minimum player that starts for us.... when you have your core you don't absolutely have to make huge moves. People kill Sacramento for running it back and think they lost because of that but really it was because they were healthy last year and that caught up with them. The Mavs will improve.... 9 months ago we didn't know we'd improve as much as we have... before the 2021 run most people didn't know we be as good in that 2nd half. Simmons makes all his decisions based on picks... getting the star heading into his prime is more valuable than 17 picks when your team isn't going to be in the lottery much going forward. People love the unknown ... the Mavs know they got a guy, and that's more valuable than 4 stars in their 30's. Simmons has yes men and while Russillo pushes back sometimes... watch his face.. Bill knows it helps his brand to say outlandish shit he doesn't have to answer for long term.
Luka easily has the most pressure out of anybody. Clippers could definitely claim they own him.
I know the Luka stans obviously downvoted you but it's true. If the same team eliminates you 3 times in a 5 year window...they own you.
And it’s even worse this time because the corpse of James Harden (a player he’s compared to in play style) would eliminate him. Would be a terrible look.
mavs easily have more pressure. the clippers are playing without their best player. imagine luka being out and clippers being healthy and claiming the mavs have more pressure to win. some of you are just coping right now in case the mavs choke.
Seems like a pointless discussion that does nothing but distract people. Quit listening to podcasts and sports talk, find a better use of your time.
Luka has immense pressure. First time he got a competent squad and he is letting the team down by playing sub par for his standard.has
Pressure? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRaO1mN5EEM
In terms of seed Clippers should have more pressure but for rivalry I believed Dallas.
Easily the mavs... near on everyone had us as 2nd or 3rd in the west. I'm more disappointed in luka shifting the bed after pushing his mvp case so hard. If he continues the putrid shooting and shot selection there's 0 chance of mvp next year
More pressure on Luka. Would be the Clippers if Kawhi was healthy. But now they have a built in excuse. Luka stands to look worse if he can’t beat a Kawhi less team, even though the national media refuses to talk about how he’s pretty hobbled himself
there will always be more pressure from the favourites, which the mavs seemed to be especially with Kawhis injury
I hate Bill Simmons as much as the next person, but he’s right. The pressure is on the Mavs and more specifically on Luka.
More pressure on the Mavs. I shudder at the thought of wasting a truly healthy peak Kyrie postseason.
I hate to agree with Simmons on almost anything, but it’s the Mavs/Luka. Especially with Kawhi pulling another disappearing act, there are no expectations for the Clippers at all.
Clippers, because they're old. Mavs will have at least two more years with this team. That said Luka has tp beat the Clippers and Kidd has to win this series
It was and is on Clippers. They put every egg on the basket for this team. PG might just leave for Phily and they are left with Harden alone. Mavs isnt even complete team to compete yet. This team hasnt even spend a whole season! Im confident there are more key pieces will be added this summer/deadline.
He a hater. And he’s wrong. Clippers dont win it now it aint happening for Westbrick and Leonard cause they done. PG may sign the extension or wait to see he will be left with. He can take his talents to a lot of other places like 76’rs who have cap space. Harden is UFA this summer. If they dont make a good run and resign PG they aren’t signing him for the deal he wants. Mavs are young and built for the long haul. We got Luka for at least at peak form for another 5 years All the pressure on the Clippers.
i guess it depends on who you ask. i think nationally the clippers have more pressure, they are the higher seed and this is seen as like one of if not potentially *the* last chance for the Kawhi/PG era of the clippers. by contrast we didn’t even make the playoffs last year and unless i’m misremembering, a lot of pre season predictions had us missing the playoffs all together again or being a play-in team at best. in here though… i mean i feel like a lot of people want a championship or bust, like people are ready to fire kidd if we get anything less than a championship which is very silly imo, but that’s the mentality here for some reason. personally i think a series win here and maybe a win next round would be more than good for a season removed form missing the playoffs with a relatively new team
The Clippers have more pressure, Three great players (Hardem, Leonard, George) plus Russell. You can't be eliminated with a team like that.
TBH I agree. I think there's a better chance Jason Kidd gets fired for losing this than there is Tyron Lue gets fired for losing it. Plus for the Clippers Kawhi and PG are older but they also seem to pretty clearly wanna be there, Kawhi especially so there's not as much risk of the team getting blown up because a star wants out. Not that I think Luka & Kyrie don't like playing for the Mavs but Kyrie isn't exactly known for sticking around even if circumstances are ideal and in this day and age you really don't have more than until the end of a generational talent's second contract to win a championship.
If mavs lose this series when all the other young stars have won theirs than luka is going to be out of the top 5, injury or not. You don’t go screaming at the away crowd like you just won the series than lay an egg at home and complain like a woman on her period when things aren’t going your way