SALT LAKE CITY – The Mavericks begin the most important trip of the season Monday against the Utah Jazz, and they do so with a mountain of momentum.
It’s a far cry from where the Mavericks were 20 days ago.
On March 5, they lost at American Airlines Center to Indiana. It was their fifth loss in six games and the season was at a tipping point. It could have gone either way.
And that’s when an unexpected hero emerged.
Markieff Morris, who by his own admission has played on championship teams, good teams so-so teams and “bottom-of-the-barrel teams, I’ve been on them all,” stepped up in one of the numerous team meetings during that dry spell.
What he said was real. And real impactful.
“The NBA season is ups and downs,” the 13-year veteran said. “The team that succeeds is the team that can get through those ups and downs knowing that that’s what a season is. I just tried to give my experience and keep us together.
“Last year we ended the year like we didn’t want to. And that time we went through was a prime example of, if we continued to go down that path, we’ll be the same way we were last year.”
So the Mavericks got a dose of reality. They understood that sharing the ball, helping on defense and making the right plays at both ends can turn a good team into a great team.
The Mavericks might be on that trajectory, having won seven of their last eight games. The only one they lost was at Oklahoma City (the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, as of Sunday) without Luka Dončić.
Now, they have five road games, four of them against teams that are part of the tightly bunched West standings from five through 11.
The Mavericks are in a good place mentally and Morris is a big part of it. He’s a prime example of the NBA truism that a leader doesn’t have to be a star player. Sometimes, he doesn’t even have to be in the rotation.
“A lot of times, it’s all about respect,” Morris said. “Do players respect a guy like me? My resume, before I got here, I’ve been on great teams, I had a good resume. But you still have to play some.
“You can’t just talk it, you got to still be able to walk it. And that’s what makes these guys believe in what I say. Obviously, I don’t play (in games much). But if you catch me in practice and see me play, you’d say, he really still can bring it. It’s just not my role for this team (to be in the rotation). I think that’s why people believe what I say. I show it in practice all the time. So it’s one of those things where if he’s saying it and showing it, we have to believe in him.”
A couple of great authorities on leadership couldn’t agree with Morris more that being a beacon for a team doesn’t always have to come from the players who score the most points.
“It’s very important as you might figure, but it’s not always your best player,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. “I think it’s more about leaders and character guys. Obviously, we’re not going to be playing much basketball in late April. But Devonte Graham on our team has held us together. It’s tough to lose as much as we’ve been losing. And Devonte commands such respect. He comes out every day whether it’s shootaround or practice or whatever we might be doing, and he’s in the middle of everything. Upbeat, that kind of thing.
“It can be other people in the program who are that way. Avery (Johnson) was like that. When we were a championship caliber team, Steve Kerr and Danny Ferry weren’t playing much. But the wisdom and gravitas they had in that locker room – Timmy (Duncan) didn’t have to say everything all the time because those guys were there. It’s really important to have those vets.”
And, Popovich added: “They can only hear us (coaches) so much. After a while, they don’t want to hear us anymore.”
Jason Kidd knows a thing or two about being a leader. He was considered one of the best during his long playing career.
“Ups and downs – there’s never been a perfect season,” Kidd said. “But what our vets have done in that locker room is helping the younger players understand that nothing is given in this league, but you have to work for it and take it.
“I thought Smooth (Morris) speaking up in the locker room was the perfect time for a vet to talk after a loss. And for him to say something was great. We need more vets in this league. They help this league, and we are young across the board. I’m lucky that we have Markieff in our locker room. He’s talking on the bench, he’s talking in the locker room and we need that voice.”
Morris said it’s not always easy to be the guy to speak up in the locker room. It can be an intimidating place, especially when everybody’s in a foul mood if things aren’t going well. The chance of everybody splintering is something that has to be addressed.
Morris said he takes a real-life approach to dealing with a locker room that needs to be held together.
“It’s natural for me to say what I feel even if it’s a harsh reality sometimes,” he said. “There are people who are like that and I’m one of them, not just in sports, but outside of basketball. I want to attack the problem by blatantly putting the problem in their ear – not going around it and trying to find a solution that doesn’t work for everybody.”
And it’s especially important when dealing with superstars, he said.
“I’ve played with great players. I’ve played with the best player ever to play the game (LeBron James),” Morris said. “Or one of the best. And I’ve been in locker rooms with great players a lot. And these are the guys you have to make respond. A lot of guys are scared of to say certain things to great players or superstars because of their status as a basketball player.
“But outside of basketball, we are all grown men, we all have families, we all have responsibilities that have nothing to do with basketball. So a lot of times, when you approach these superstar guys, you treat them like a normal guy. Some people can’t do that. People only see the stardom of the basketball player. They don’t see the normal guy. I look past all that, so it’s easy for me to communicate with some of those guys.”
Dončić has been receptive to what Morris has said during the tough times. So has Kyrie Irving. It’s the kind of impact a player can have in the locker room that sometimes makes up for not having a major impact on the court.
X: @ESefko
Playoff update: The Western Conference playoff picture changes pretty much every day. Here, we’ll give you periodic updates on the latest look of the West standings.
The top six teams are in the playoffs. Teams finishing seventh through 10th will be in the play-in tournament to decide the seventh and eighth seeds in the playoffs.
Western Conference update
Team (seed) Record Games left (home-road)
Oklahoma City (1) 49-20……..…….6-7
Denver (2) 49-21……..…….7-5
Minnesota (3) 48-22…….…….8-4
LA Clippers (4) 44-25…….…….8-5
New Orleans (5) 43-27…….…….7-5
*Dallas (6) 41-29…….…….4-8
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Phoenix (7) 41-29……….….4-8
Sacramento (8) 40-29……….….8-5
LA Lakers (9) 38-32…………..4-8
Golden State (10) 36-33…..………4-9
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Houston (11) 34-35………..…6-7
*–Owns tiebreaker via better head-to-head record
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