The NBA season is nearing crunch time with teams settling into position for the playoffs, and narratives around players will be redefined.
The biggest event of the NBA season was the Los Angeles Lakers trading for Luka Doncic, with Anthony Davis and Max Christie heading in the opposite direction.
Mavericks GM Nico Harrison became a laughing stock around the league after Davis got injured on his debut, and Kyrie Irving suffered a season ending ACL tear.
And while Irving might not be seen again until early 2026, Anthony Davis is back in the Dallas Mavericks line-up, along with injured teammates Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford.
Davis had his best game of the season against the Hawks, with 34 points, and excitement is building in Dallas, with coach Jason Kidd happy with how he has gelled alongside Klay Thompson.
Former NBA star Jeff Teague is thrilled to see Anthony Davis back in action, because he is fed up of seeing the Dallas Mavericks star be disrespected.
Asked about an early LA Lakers exit from the playoffs, Teague told his Club 520 podcast: “I want it to happen because I rock with AD. I think AD’s a good player, and I hate he got thrown in the bull____. So I kind of want Luka to fail a little bit.”
Teague believes that the better Luka Doncic performs, the more disrespect will be thrown in Anthony Davis’ direction.
So re-directing his take to be more anti-Doncic than anti-Lakers, he continued: “I want ‘Bron to win but I want Luka to fail so AD can still look [good].
“I want Luka to play bad, and I want ‘Bron to play great, I don’t care if they win or not. I don’t care I ain’t got no skin in the game.
“But I want it to be so it look like obvious AD ‘I see why damn they [opponents] probably wouldn’t have won with Luka playing defense like that, we needed AD’.
“I hope AD get in the Play-In and go in the Playoffs, AD go crazy averaging like 38-15.”
Teague competed in the Playoffs during his NBA career, and told how LeBron James masterminded a clean sweep of his Atlanta Hawks side. But he clearly has high respect for his former competitor, and Davis – so much so that he would like to see Luka Doncic fail.
When the Dallas Mavericks traded for Anthony Davis, Nico Harrison made clear it was with the intention to win a championship straight away.
Kyrie Irving’s injury has put an end to that, you would expect, but the Mavericks have done well to rally and stay competitive. Having dropped to 11th place, they are back up to ninth in the Western Conference.
Teague believes simply making it past the Play-In, and looking good in a first round playoff loss would constitute success.
“I’m just telling you how I want it to be played out,” Teague added.
“If AD get them to the playoffs after being out that long, and they get in the first round and they make it interesting like they win a game or two, that’s a good trade… and the Lakers lose.”
