Dereck Lively Update – The Dallas Rookie Is Still Winning

Contrary to popular belief, players who submit to the group as a whole are less common.

It’s easy to assume that the Dallas Mavericks believe they acquired Blue Devil Dereck Lively for a great deal. Though it’s still early and players will undoubtedly improve with time, consider some of the players selected before him, most notably Jett Howard (who was selected by Orlando at number twelve, one spot ahead of Dallas’ selection of Lively at number thirteen). He has performed admirably in the postseason this year, and the Mavs should benefit greatly from having him in the NBA Finals.

At Duke, Lively demonstrated an underappreciated strength: a willingness to put the team’s needs ahead of his own.

It’s kind of crazy how many excellent players never learn how to do this, and everybody who has ever played team basketball at any level has encountered one guy who just demands the ball all the time.
Thus, we weren’t shocked to read Lively’s remarks regarding Dallas’s great guards, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving (who, like Lively, was formerly a Blue Devil): “The law is their voice. They’re gonna call you out if you’re on bullshit. In addition, people regard you equally if you call them out on something they’re doing wrong.

It’s possible that Lively will turn into an egomaniac as his game progresses, but it seems improbable based on what we’ve seen of him. He’s almost the perfect teammate because his main goals are to participate and succeed. Naturally, Duke supporters will keep a close eye on him, but everyone else in the basketball world need to as well. Lively has an incredibly bright future.