Kyrie Irving vs. Celtics fans isn’t the only 2024 NBA Finals rivalry.
There is “actual beef” between Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis from years together as running mates in Dallas, according to former Mavericks player Chandler Parsons.
“It will be way more violent toward Kyrie Irving in Boston, no doubt, but don’t get twisted, they do not like Porzingis in Dallas,” Parsons said on “Run It Back” on Monday.
“Luka did not like playing with him. There is an actual beef there. It’s going to be every time he touches the ball he’s getting booed.”
The Mavericks acquired Porzingis from the Knicks during the 2019 season to give Doncic a legitimate co-star, but the pair failed to meet expectations.
Dallas lost in the first round of the playoffs in each of Porzingis’ two full seasons in Dallas, finishing as the seventh seed and fifth seed.
Porzingis averaged 20.1 and 20.4 points per year those two seasons, respectively, but injuries plagued him yet again, limiting him to just 100 games spanning those two seasons.
He played in just three of the six games against the Clippers in the 2020 playoffs, and then averaged only 13.1 points per game in the seven-game loss to the Clippers in the 2021 postseason.
Dallas opted to move on halfway through the 2021-22 season, sending Porzingis to the Wizards for rotational players in Davis Bertans and Spencer Dinwiddie.
Porzingis acknowledged in 2022 that he and and Doncic could have functioned better
“Yes, of course. Of course. Myself and Luka were both young guys. There were situations we should have just talked to each other. Talk to each other in a room. Later on, we did have those conversations and we did open up to each other more and stuff,” Porzingis said on “The Woj Pod”, as transcribed by the Dallss Morning News. “But now looking back, of course. We made some mistakes along the way, but yeah. (Jason) Kidd came in and we had some fresh air, fresh atmosphere and that helped.
“At the end, sometimes it doesn’t work out the way you expect and that’s OK. I learned a lot from that situation. I learned a lot in New York and yeah, I wish nothing but the best to both organizations.”
Doncic finished fourth and sixth in MVP voting in his two full seasons alongside Porzingis, but the Mavericks have enjoyed more team success since moving on from the Latvian forward.
While Parsons’ co-hosts Michelle Beadle and Lou Williams did not know of the alleged issues between the two, Parsons, who played two seasons for the Mavericks from 2014-16, said he believes it’s a known situation.
He guaranteed that Mavericks’ fans will provide Porzingis a rude welcome to American Airlines Center — provided he plays this series.
Porzingis has been sidelined since Game 4 of the first round after suffering a strained left calf, although he tweeted on May 29 that he’ll be returning soon, as translated by Google.
“It didn’t work out,” Parsons said. “Dallas, for whatever reason, those fans, they’re prideful. If you’re hurt, if you’re not playing, if you’re not doing what you were doing years before you got to the Mavs, they don’t like it.”
He added: “It wasn’t Kyrie stuff because, like Lou just said, Porzingis isn’t Kyrie Irving, but there is a situation here. … There definitely is more motivation for both these players. It definitely will be more gnarly in Boston for Kyrie Irving, but I guarantee you Porzingis gets booed every time he touches the ball.”