Luka Dončić’s bad body language is becoming one of Dallas’ many problems:

We’re in an ugly stretch of the Dallas Mavericks’ season, one which was supposed to be a delightful honeymoon following the Kyrie Irving trade days before the deadline. When I asked for questions for this article on Monday, Dallas had just lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in a manner that made clear this team’s demons aren’t any different than they were before acquiring Irving. Another defeat Tuesday, this one a 124-122 loss at home to the 28-35 Indiana Pacers, didn’t help change minds or vibes. With only 19 games remaining, there’s not much time remaining for Dallas cure the many ailments we’ve seen.

So let’s talk about those, with a specific emphasis on Luka Dončić’s visible and loudly enunciated recent frustrations. Let me be clear, as I’ll write later in this article: Dončić is singular reason why this team is dangerous and successful. Any criticism of him comes from the lofty expectations he’s set for himself. But since many of your questions focused on him, I felt it worthwhile to respond in kind.

Note that some questions have been edited or condensed for clarity.

Micah N. asks, “I’ve been super hesitant to jump on the ‘Luka needs to mature’ bandwagon, but watching Sunday’s game (against the Lakers), I couldn’t help but feel that way. I’m curiously if you feel similarly.”

My barometer for Dončić’s temperament is whether it affects his play multiple times per game, and especially for multiple possessions in a row. Lately, it has. The technical foul he received against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday wasn’t only earned but sought out. Dončić had survived one yelling bout with one of the game’s officials before he sought out another one to berate, practically forcing the whistle against him. If Dončić picks up two more technical fouls this season, he’ll serve an automatic one-game suspension.

These frustrations are affecting his defensive effort multiple times each game, and perhaps even occasionally his shot selection. The issues crop up not only with Dončić’s transition defense, but in moments like this, where he doesn’t even attempt to box out his man on a rebound attempt.

Dončić’s anger might be righteous. He seeks out and sustains plenty of physical contact throughout games, some of which inevitably isn’t called for fouls. But that’s the life of an NBA superstar. Worse, his frustrations with the officiating cascade into consecutive sequences of negative results for his team: failed box outs, four-on-five defensive possessions, hasty stepback 3s and more. For all of the advantages Dončić creates through his sheer, undisputed talent, he’s giving too much of them back through avoidable on-court behavior.

I don’t know how to fix that, not with immediate effect. But it has to change for the Mavericks to be more successful.

Jon B. asks, “What do you think of trading Luka?”

But all right, let’s not go too far with this. This is an obvious overreaction to one of…