Daniel Gafford, a fifth-year big man, has only been with the Dallas Mavericks for a few weeks after being acquired in a trade with the Washington Wizards, but it hasn’t taken him long to grasp how exceptional Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, his new teammates, are. Regarding playing with Doncic and Irving, Gafford told DallasBasketball.com that they are “just dynamic scorers.” Just by looking at a few of the plays that Luka and Kyrie have completed, you would think that Jesus Christ is real. Man, at the end of the day, I’m generally the one watching the ball go through the net, even if I’m in position to go retrieve it. Most of the time, I just go running since I know what will happen.
Although Gafford says he’s been “mesmerized” and “starstruck” by some of the things Doncic and Irving are capable of doing in the court, he’s also not surprised, given that he sees them practicing those tough shots on off days. “I see [Luka] practice those all the time. With just the times that we’ve had practices, the times we’ve had shootarounds, he practices each one of those shots that he takes,” Gafford said. “Kyrie practices each one of those layups that he takes. The one where he finished over Wemby? He practices that. Seeing something like that, I just know it’s something they do on a consistent basis, because they work on it.
Gafford has fit in well during his first four games with the Mavs, averaging 12.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks and helping the team win all four of those contests. With two years left in his contract after this one, he’ll have plenty of time to continue being wowed by Doncic and Irving going forward.
