Salah Mejri names what Mavs are lacking, expresses doubts over Doncic-Irving duo / News - Basketnews.com

Salah Mejri, who played alongside Luka Doncic at Real Madrid and the Dallas Mavericks, recalled how both were trying to adjust to the NBA culture, and weighed in on how Jason Kidd could get the best out of the Slovenian star's skill set.

Credit: Sean Berry/NBAE via Getty Images Credit Sean Berry/NBAE via Getty Images

Salah Mejri played alongside Luka Doncic at Real Madrid (2015) and the Dallas Mavericks (2018). The Tunisian big man, 37, is currently spending his time between his home country and the U.S. while serving his new role as NBA ambassador in Europe.

Salah Mejri

Position:CAge:37Height:217 cmWeight:110 kgBirth place:TunisiaProfileNewsStatistics

The first Arab to play for Real Madrid, Mejri also became the first to reach the EuroLeague and the NBA. He suddenly found himself in Europe and was elected Rookie of the Year in the ACB in 2013 before making the leap to Madrid, where he met Doncic.

"Luka is my friend, I try to watch all the Dallas games," he told El Mundo Deportivo.

"The Mavs have to find where the problem is. For me, they have the best player in the world in Luka... He must win, no matter what. The minimum for him at this point is to reach the Conference Finals, if not win everything," he said.

Dallas reached that level in 2022, when the Warriors, eventual champions, won the Western Finals. Last year, they didn't even manage to qualify for the playoffs. The lack of victories and titles took a toll on players like Mejri or Doncic, who had won several titles in Europe.

"When we were losing a lot, he was not happy. He had just won everything in Madrid, he was used to victories. It was difficult for him to understand that in the NBA defeats are much more common, especially at the beginning" he recalled.

One of the things the two teammates couldn't get used to was early practices.

"They asked you to be in the gym at seven in the morning. In Spain or Tunisia, no one went to work at that time. I was 29 when I went there, so running and grinding at seven and eight in the morning was painful," Mejri described the different work culture.

"For Luka, it was a bit the same. He wanted the ball, he didn't want to do exercises. He has always treated basketball as a game, he has never treated it as a job."

Mejri strengthened ties with Doncic during the Slovenian's rookie season in the NBA. Doncic won the Rookie of the Year award and it didn't take him long to adjust to a very different game compared to how he was used to playing on Pablo Laso's squad. In fact, Doncic asked to sit next to Mejri in the locker room during his first season in Dallas.

The problem is that now Doncic is entering his sixth season and it doesn't seem like the franchise has done its homework.

"Jason Kidd must find a way to win with Luka, the other players must help him more," Mejri pointed out. "Having Luka, who is capable of scoring and creating, what the team needs most is good shooters and defense. That's easier said than done."

Mejri acknowledged that he's not too fond of the duo formed last February, just before the end of free agency.

"In my opinion, putting Luka and Kyrie together is a little bit strange. They both play with the ball, you can't have two balls on the court. They are both too good with the ball to play without it. There are those who remember that Irving played next to LeBron James, but it was precisely LeBron who could play without the ball.

You can't take the ball away from Luka, he wouldn't be himself. I think it's a bit the same with Irving. It will be interesting to see what response Kidd finds to this," Mejri reflected.

Thank you for being with us! Subscribe to BN+ and browse ad-free.