For the 2023–24 season, the Dallas Mavericks hope to have a better one thanks to backcourt stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. In the middle of last season, Irving was moved to Dallas. However, things didn’t go as planned for the Mavs right away, as they didn’t even make it to the Play-In Tournament.

Still, there is no doubt that both Irving and Doncic are very talented. Former NBA guard Jamal Crawford recently made this point very clear.

Crawford told Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News, “You could make the case that these two are the best backcourt players who have ever played together.”

It is true that Doncic and Irving have two of the most exciting sets of skills in the NBA. Doncic is more of a floor general who can quickly find and take advantage of any holes in the defense. Irving, on the other hand, is one of the best scorers in NBA history and has never played against a defender who he thought could stop him. Jamal Crawford can relate to this.

The Mavs have doubts about their defense because both Irving and Doncic have been bad defenders overall in their careers, even though they are great offensively. At the end of last season, Dallas’ lack of defense was what killed them. It remains to be seen if the few changes they made over the summer were enough to improve their defense.

No matter what, fans can look forward to seeing a lot of great scoring plays from both Irving and Doncic in 2023–24.