When Kristaps Porzingis joined Dallas Mavericks sophomore Luka Doncic in 2019, it was considered the coming of the best European duo in NBA history. Injuries to the Unicorn hampered any chance of cohesion between them and in 2022, the Mavericks parted ways with him. Fast forward to 2024 and they are ready to clash against each other in the Finals. But was it just injury concerns that led to the separation or is there more to the Porzingis-Mavs story?
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According to former Mavericks Wing, Chandler Parsons, Porzingis and Doncic didn’t see eye to eye. He also pointed out that the Dallas fans will boo Porzingis whenever he touches the ball because of his underwhelming tenure with the franchise.
On his Run It Back pod, Parsons explained why Porzingis-Doncic beef brings an intriguing storyline to the 2024 finals,
“They don’t like Porzingis in Dallas. Luka didn’t like playing with him. There is an actual beef there, it’s gonna be everytime he touched the ball, he is getting booed.”
“They do not like Porzingis in Dallas… Luka did not like playing with him, there is an actual beef there” 👀@ChandlerParsons on Kristaps Porzingis playing his former team in the NBA Finals 🍿 pic.twitter.com/nDUvjnVOLc
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) June 3, 2024
The 35-year-old explained that the Mavs fans are disappointed with the forward as he was unable to live up to their expectations and are still disgruntled over his tenure there.
Considering the minefield of the NBA Finals, Parsons pointed out that they will be extra-motivated to jeer the Latvian phenom. But will he be even game-ready when the finals begin? If he does, it will immensely add to the Celts’ firepower.
Kristaps Porzingis expected to be the difference in the finals
In a recent interview, Boston Celtics head coach, Joe Mazzulla, showed tremendous confidence in Kristaps Porzingis’ return for Game 1. After missing a month due to a calf strain, the Stretch-Five is battle-ready for the title series. On First Take, Kendrick Perkins warned the Mavs about the 7’2” Center and re-iterated his stance about Porzingis being the major factor in the series.
He emphasized his versatile skillset that can negate the length of Mavs big men, especially 7’1” Center Derek Lively II, who gave a ton of trouble to Karl-Anthony Towns in the WCF series against the Timberwolves. The 2008 NBA champion said,
“He is the guy at 7’2”, knock down the trey ball but he also was one of the best post-up guys in the game this season..They need him to go against Derek Lively and Daniel Gafford to anchor that defense.”
Perk went as far as stating that if Porzingis is available, the Celtics are guaranteed a series win. Thus, the prolific scorer is entering the finals with a lot of burden and despite a long injury break, he is expected to dominate the scene right away.
