Markieff Morris Denies Rumor Mavs Players Are Relieved When Luka Dončić Checks Out

Dallas Mavericks forward Markieff Morris came to the defense of teammate Luka Dončić after an anonymous NBA assistant coach suggested the five-time All-Star is a bit of a ball hog.

In a post on X, Morris responded to an aggregated portion of a story by The Ringer's Howard Beck and called it "foolishness."

Beck dove deep into what has been a longstanding narrative around Dončić's game. He was a highly ball-dominant player from the moment he arrived in the NBA, and some have argued that comes at a cost to his teammates to an extent. Facilitating so much of the offense might be contributing to wearing him down at the critical stages of a season, too.

In his piece, Beck cited an NBA assistant who said Dončić's teammates might express a "sigh of relief" when he goes to the bench because they'll enjoy a little more freedom on the floor.

"It's a sense of, 'Hey, now we get to play,'" the coach said. "It's difficult to have any rhythm if you're not touching the ball."

Beck did, however, interview a different assistant coach who believes Dončić has "gotten smarter" and that "his dependency level on his teammates has risen."

Suffice it to say, we know where Morris stands on the matter.