Stan Van Gundy Drops Bold Take Before Celtics-Mavericks Finals

The Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks are days away from tipping off the NBA Finals, opening the door for debates, predictions and hot takes.

Former NBA head coach Stan Van Gundy partook in the pre-Finals discourse, supplying a (very) debatable stance regarding the Mavericks. Van Gundy claimed Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are the best backcourt duo in NBA history, a stance which NESN’s Travis Thomas challenged on the “Hold My Banner” vodcast.

“I think he’s smoking some dope,” Thomas said. “Are you kidding? That’s a joke, right? … The splash brothers changed basketball. You cannot, right now, go watch a game of pickup — forget the NBA — you can’t go watch a game of pickup without cats who have no business pulling up from 30-plus, from the parking lot, and shooting threes.”

Watch the rest of the vodcast episode here:

Doncic and Irving could add fuel to Van Gundy’s case if the Mavericks pull off an upset over the Celtics and stop Boston’s quest for Banner 18. Yet, even so, the Dallas duo would still remain a long way from competing with duos such as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Tony Parker and Manu Ginóbili, and Bob Cousy and Sam Jones — among others.