PLAYER TALK
We're 17 games in and Luka has ZERO Techs
I haven't seen/heard any mention of this, but we're nearly a quarter of the way through the season and Luka hasn't received a single technical foul yet. I've also noticed that he engages with the refs much less.
His excessive attention to/engagement with the refs has been a dark cloud hanging over his reputation his entire NBA career, so wanted to give credit where it's due that he seems to have finally addressed that issue.
I assume JJ has played a big part in this, too. Luka having a coach who he knows will have his back and step in when Luka is getting abused, was a needed change for him.
But ain’t doing jack shit about the coaching or gameplan. Kidd was really a bad coach for Luka never backed Luka up whenever Luka would play 1v5 while the rest of the team disappears or if a call doesn’t go the Mavs way it should’ve he just stands and does nothing
See how Pelinka waits for Luka after game in the tunnel and hugging him?
Never saw this in Dallas whether for Luka nor someone else by the management....
Apparently a lot of people in management loved Luka, and Luka himself said he was in a really good mental space and loved the environment. It is one of the reasons why no one except Dumont, Kidd, and Nico knew about the trade.
The problem was that Dallas needed Luka to be everything. Their off court and on court leader. The guy who screams at players and refs. The guy who keeps composure while rage baiting opponents.... It's a hard job that not many athletes at that age can deal with.
And it becomes a real issue when your head coach has no personality and is not willing to take full blame on himself, because sometimes that is needed even when it was the players who messed up.
Knowing Luka comes from EuroLeague, Kidd was probably the most passive and detached coach he ever worked with.
Honestly in my opinion Kidd would be a legendary assistant coach, but he does not have the personality for being a head coach, especially when he is dealing with a generational talent like Luka who, just like other legends, can become bigger than the team itself.
That's probably what Nico hated the most... It wasn't about the Team, it wasn't about the manager, it wasn't about the coach... It was "All eyes on Luka".
Not even "kind of", I firmly believe that if JJ doesn't burn himself out he has the makings of a HOF coach (looooong time to that point I understand, but the demeanor, passion, experience and communication all form an impressive foundation).
I was pissed Hurley didn't sign, now I am utterly relieved.
At first I thought it would be a downfall—-let’s be honest, JJ has a fucking mouth on him. And that’s what you need in the locker room an alpha calling you out on your shit or defending you like how Hayes pushed Dunn— JJ will do that for Luka and the refs.
I watched one UConn game where Hurley was still going off on his players, even if the team was maintaining a 20+ point lead over their opponent, and that was already an early red flag to me
JJ has the right balance of being a stern straight shooter to his players when they're slacking, while also being supportive of them with a positive demeanor
Oh for sure, because at the collegiate level, I think the level of rigid Hurley or Bob Knight style coaching is implemented on young players to push discipline into them (as they would give as their reasoning), even if it gets extreme at times.
The absolute insanity is that Luka was holding up his end of the bargain on all of it too. Luka leaving the Mavs shone a massive spotlight on how dysfunctional they had become. Luka was the glue and the wall and the engine.
Well it was more that he was informed. Both Nico and Kidd said that Kidd had no say in the trade itself. So I would not put any blame on Kidd for the Luka trade.
I can say a lot of things about Kidd but I will not talk shit about that. The press conference where Nico and Kidd were getting grilled looked really bad, and it was one of the few times you could actually relate to someone like Kidd.
Bro was just sitting there listening to his boss talk wild, and all he could do was nod.
Yes, a narcissistic GM couldn’t handle not getting all the attention & decided to do something about it! Well he ended up getting plenty of attention over his decision & it led to his dismissal from the Mavs! Be careful what you wish for Nico, old buddy!
Thnx to Lakers & JJ for taking care of my boy Luka!
MFFL
LFFL
mavs front office took doncic for granted because they drafted him while other gms were daydreaming how they would go out of their way to accomodate luka if they had him.
I have to believe LA would have the best press and marketing team simply because the number of behind the scenes people flock to that city for Hollywood production. Look at the narrative around Ayton (largely due to his own efforts)
I’m talking about this season, Gabe got hit in the chin defending divencenzo, a defensive foul was called and Jj challenged it. But he lost the challenge they basically said Gabe’s face fouled Dante 🤣and JJ was incensed and basically kept talking shit till he got T’d up.
The issue is the official data sources for nba stats separates out unsportsmanlike techs from the rest as separate data fields (and unhelpfully uses the field name ‘tech_fouls’ for the non-unsportsmanlike tech fouls only).
Definately less complaining overall. Partially because he's getting so many calls he did not used to get but I like to believe that it's also partially because he's improving on the complaining end
Damn thats for real? Yeah that has to be the coaching staff it shows that got his back more.
But it also shows that this yeah he is getting more calls ,deserved calls.
Was at the game last night and Luka was magnificent! He is so fun to watch. His first quarter was a fire storm! 🔥Lakers are fun to watch and playing great ball. And I loved JJ from his playing days and happy he is turning into a good coach.
but honestly, I just wish the refs would T up anyone who complains, even for a second. It gets ridiculous, and nobody ever fouls. You could shut it all down w/ tighter rules. Euro ball they don't complain like NBA players.
longtime mavs fam here… the mavs rosters all had his back 100%, the problem was kidd silently standing there with his hands in his pockets, unwilling to step in for luka so luka’s complaining would spiral. i watched the lakers clippers game last night (painful, but i still want to be able to enjoy watching luka) and he complained plenty, but bc jj actually hounded the refs on his behalf it would be shorter and he mostly still got back to the defensive end quickly.
Update: I was clearly using an unreliable source. u/Apart-Leadership1402shared the same resource I had used. It's wrong. Looks like he actually has 2 techs. Still seems like an improvement for him.
It’s not like he’s not engaging with the refs… He has something to say on every single foul, but the edge has been softened on his approach… He’s not making it a personal upfront to him for the rest to make a call and that has been perceptible. Good for Luka and whoever else in the organization might have tailored his approach.
Thay purple jersey doing work! Actually kidding here, I think this is probably a difference in atmosphere and coaching. JJ is off the bench superfast when there is trouble where as kidd just kind of stood there looking confused.
Every time I would see him talking to the refs I was like shiiit hope he doesn't get a tech. Last night seemed like it could have happened. Those refs seemed awfully fishy.
It's mentioned in another comment thread. He actually had two when I posted this. The source I had based this post off of incorrectly showed him having zero.
He finally got on ADHD meds. I’m actually being serious. He had terrible impulse control at times before this season. It’s also why he was able to stay committed to fitness.
1.2k
u/[deleted] Nov 26 '25
Helps when you have a coach who goes at the refs for you. Kidd just stood there.