It’s not really a surprise that the Dallas Mavericks have opened the season with an 0-4 record. It’s also not too surprising that the team was blown out by the Golden State Warriors at home on Monday night.
After keeping it close through the first half, Dallas fell by the score of 133-103 against a Warriors squad that had lost two of its first three games.
Though, that’s not the biggest story to come out of this game. Instead, it’s the highlight-reel dunk by Warriors rookie Jordan Bell in a game that was already out of hand that has the basketball world talking.
Disrespectul? Yes. But we have to realize Bell is a 22-year-old rookie seeing limited playing time for the defending champs. He wants to make an impression.
But don’t use that as an excuse when broaching Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle about the topic at hand.
All Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was attempting to do there is apologize for the immaturity of a rookie making his fourth appearance in an NBA game.
We understand that Carlisle was probably fuming after his team lost a fourth consecutive game to open the season. But maybe he should look in the mirror to air said frustration. Bell blocked a three-point attempt late in the fourth quarter. He saw a clear path to the net. And he wanted to make an awe-inspiring play.
Next time, the Mavericks should make sure that a three-pointer isn’t stuffed right back in their face. This is a grown man’s game. Losing by 30 points at home is bad enough. Showing yourself to be bad losers in the process is much more indicative of the culture we’re seeing with this losing team.
That’s the harsh reality of the situation here.