The Dallas Mavericks are currently the eighth-best team in the Western Conference, which is far away from where they wanted to be at this point in the season.
One of the biggest problems with the Mavericks is that their roster can sometimes feel very thin.
When Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic aren’t on the court, the team has a tendency to struggle.
But there are multiple bright spots in the lineup, including rookie player Jaden Hardy.
In fact, Hardy just made Mavericks history.
According to Mavs PR on Twitter, he has become the first Dallas player to score at least 20 points in each of his first two NBA starts.
He has also passed Dirk Nowitzki for the fourth-most 20-point games by a Maverick before his 21st birthday.
Jaden Hardy became the first Mavericks player to score at least 20 points in each of his first two NBA starts.
Hardy also passed Dirk Nowitzki (3) for the 4th-most 20-point games by a Maverick before his 21st birthday:
86, Dončić
18, Smith Jr.
7, Mashburn
*4, Hardy
3, Nowitzki pic.twitter.com/QNi1rMtME8— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) March 14, 2023
Considering Hardy is 20 years and 252 days old as of Tuesday, he has a chance to climb even higher on that list before his birthday this summer.
For the season, Hardy is averaging 7.6 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1 assist a game on a 42.5% field goal percentage.
He has played in 35 games for the Mavericks this season but has only started twice.
During those two starts on both March 11 and 13, Hardy scored 22 and 28 points respectively.
Does this mean the Mavericks have a new star to rely on?
Will head coach Jason Kidd and his team turn to Hardy more often?
That remains to be seen because Hardy’s two starts have come only when both Irving and Doncic were out.
Unfortunately for the Mavericks, they also happened to be losses.
Hardy obviously has a lot of promise but it’s not clear if he will have many more chances to show it this season.
NEXT: Stephen A Smith Has A Strong Message About Kyrie Irving
