The Mavericks continued their baffling post-All-Star break slide with a dumbfounding 117–109 loss at home to the 24–51 Hornets.
The poor effort by the Mavericks led to Dallas’ fans showering the home team with boos on Friday night.
Star guard Kyrie Irving was asked about the booing of the home crowd in the postgame press conference.
“So what?” Irving said. “You obviously want to play well, but it’s only five people on the court that can play for the Dallas Mavericks. If the fans wanna change places, then hey, be my guest. Got years of work ahead to be great enough to be on this level.”
The response from Irving is sure to upset fans of his new team, as he continues to struggle in meshing with star Luka Dončić since being acquired from the Nets before the trade deadline.
Dallas is now 3–7 in games where Irving and Dončić play together, which is a far cry from the expectations that the Mavericks organization had when they traded for Irving.
Dallas sits at 36–38 on the season and is in serious danger of missing the playoffs. The Mavericks currently occupy the No. 11 spot in the West, outside of the play-in tournament with eight games to play in the regular season.
