Fan confidence wobbles after the Mavericks fall to the Kings two times in a week

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According to the most recent SB Nation Reacts survey 55 percent of Mavericks fans are confident the team is headed in the right direction. That’s down from 69 percent last week but up from 50 percent the week before. Losing to the Kings three times in 15 days will absolutely suck the confidence out of a fanbase, particularly when none of those games were close.

Dallas, like every other team in the league, is working through a non-stop schedule to end the season. With the end of the regular season scheduled to come May 16, the NBA is forcing teams to finish their schedule. The Mavericks play six times in the next nine days!

However, more than two-thirds of fans around the NBA think the league condensed the schedule too much.

One major reason it’s believed the league was so adamant on finishing this early is because of the expected 2021 Olympics this summer. However, only 44 percent of fans believe that’s a worthy reason for playing games at this pace. The Mavericks lost games not due to COVID-19 postponements (though, they probably should have in hindsight), they had a week’s worth of games rescheduled due to the Texas blizzard.

While the schedule is difficult for everyone, some teams are having more success than others. That’s in large part due to the success of star players around the league. This year’s MVP race has seen a changing group of players from start to finish. Luka Doncic is on the outside looking in in terms of Most Valuable Player, but he’s absolutely in the mix for an All-NBA team.

As the season nears its end, though, one player has emerged as the front runner for the award. 61 percent of fans nationally think Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokić is the league’s MVP. Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul was the next closest with 17 percent.

While Jokić appears to be the clear MVP, that doesn’t mean he’s considered the best player in the game right now. That title, according to fans, still goes to Lakers superstar LeBron James. Luka Dončić earned eight percent of the vote. It’s worth wondering how long we’re going to have to wait for Dončić to regularly appear in the MVP discussion.

Paul’s re-emergence with the Suns has been a game-changer. The point guard was picked as the player who has made the biggest difference on their new team, far surpassing Brooklyn’s James Harden. The Mavericks didn’t have anyone make this list and there’s probably more than a few Dallas fans who would have Josh Richardson as least impactful for his new team.

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