Former Mavericks forward makes statement that will infuriate every Dallas fan

The Dallas Mavericks are one of the hottest teams in the Western Conference, as they are off to a 13-8 start and are the No. 3 seed in the West. This was not something that many people expected, as most of the national media threw shade at Dallas.

They didn't think that they made the necessary moves to contend, and some thought they would even miss the playoffs.

If Dallas continues to play this well, they should be a lock for a spot in the NBA Playoffs after missing them last year, and fans should be excited about the team's dynamic duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Doncic is playing some of the best basketball of his career and recently dropped a 29-point first-half triple-double for the first time in NBA history.

Former Mavericks forward makes statement that will infuriate every Dallas fan

Although Doncic and Irving are a great duo and play great off each other, one of Dallas' duos before them did not fit so well.

Dallas traded for Kristaps Porzingis back in 2019, and he and Doncic were expected to take over the league. That never happened, as Porzingis struggled to stay healthy, and Dallas never won a playoff series with him on the roster.

Both playoff series that Dallas lost while Porzingis was on the roster were against the LA Clippers. The Mavericks lost both series, and a recent tidbit about the 2021 series came out, and every Mavs fan will be extremely upset when they hear it.

Porzingis recently joined JJ Redick's podcast "Old Man and the Three," and talked about the 2021 NBA Playoffs.

Porzingis averaged 13.1 points per game in this series, and his role wasn't as big as it had been during the season. He was pretty much asked to be a spot-up shooter and stay on the perimeter.

On the podcast with Redick, Porzingis said he was playing his role "out of spite" and said, "on purpose, I will not move from this corner." This comment shows that Porzingis was not giving full effort offensively, and he blamed this on his maturity and youth at the time.

Porzingis and Dallas have both moved on from this, but this is an awful look for him. All that matters in the playoffs is winning, and Porzingis was too worried about his minimized role to go all in for his teammates.

This wasted a dominant series from Doncic, as he averaged 35.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 10.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per game, and ultimately showed that this duo wasn't going to work. The Mavs are all about players fully buying into their roles, and Porzingis couldn't do that.

For all the latest on Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks this season, stay tuned.