Doncic, who had dragged an otherwise unremarkable Mavericks team through the Western Conference, became the face of their failure. Dallas coach Jason Kidd was forced to come out and defend his maligned star, even though without Doncic, the Mavericks were a faded Kyrie Irving and a bunch of role players.

Anthony Davis faced the media for the first time as a member of the Dallas Mavericks, days after the Los Angeles Lakers traded him to the Mavs as part of a package for Luka Doncic. Davis, 31, has been an NBA All-Star 10 times and an All-NBA player five times.