Not even Cooper Flagg can save Mavs fans from sting of NBA's POTW awards

Cooper Flagg may have the Dallas Mavericks looking forward, but the NBA just gave fans a reason to grimace for what will hopefully be the last time. The Player of the Week awards were announced after an explosive chapter in the 2026-27 season. It was former Mavericks guards Jalen Brunson and Luka Doncic who secured the honors.

Though Dallas fans are likely happy for Brunson and Doncic, it was an unfortunate reminder of the fact that the Mavericks had both players and let them both go for far less than they should've.

It's well past the point of needing to revisit the Brunson and Doncic departures every time they do something of note. Not only have the Mavericks moved on by drafting Flagg, but both players have put enough distance between themselves and Dallas to be viewed through a lens that doesn't require a historical reminder.

Even still, this is a fairly unique event in the sense that both of the Player of the Week recipients once played for the same team—and experienced fairly resounding success, no less.

In 2022, for instance, Doncic and Brunson led the Mavericks to their first Conference Finals appearance in 11 years. They combined to average 53.3 points per game during the playoffs and looked the part of one of the NBA's next great backcourt pairings.

Unfortunately, Brunson left in free agency for what's now viewed as a severe underpay and Doncic was traded just three years later.

Jalen Brunson, Luka Doncic win NBA Player of the Week awards

To make matters worse, both Brunson and Doncic have continued to rank among the NBA's elite postseason players since 2022. Earlier this year, Brunson led the New York Knicks to their first championship in 53 seasons. He won Finals MVP for his efforts.

Doncic, meanwhile, guided Dallas to the 2024 NBA Finals and ended a 13-year drought without a trip to the championship round—a fall from grace after making two journeys in a span of six years with Dirk Nowitzki.

Imagining a scenario in which Dallas re-signed Brunson and never traded Doncic is thus painful on multiple levels. For one, they'd have an elite backcourt pairing that proved to know how to play together in a postseason setting. They might also have a championship considering their respective success.

That likely would've meant not having the chance to draft Flagg, however, which may be the only comfort to be found in this situation.

Flagg is well on his way to superstar status of his own and will likely rack up his share of Player of the Week awards before his career is over. He's arguably positioned himself to make a run at such an honor already with averages of 24.0 points, 7.0 assists, 6.6 rebounds, 2.1 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game in 2026-27.

One simply can't help but spend one last moment lamenting what could've been in Dallas after the NBA threw salt in the wound with Player of the Week honors that were equal parts deserved and painful to witness considering what the Mavericks gave up and how little they got in return.

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