Kristaps Porzingis admits having young bull connection with Luka Doncic during stint with Mavericks: "We both tried to make it work"

Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic seemed like one of the NBA's most promising young duos. With an elite guard in Doncic who had already made the Mavericks Western Conference contenders and a generational talent in Porzingis, the future looked bright. Unfortunately for Mark Cuban's Mavs, the duo was unable to accomplish their ultimate goal of an NBA title.

Despite the optimism, the duo accomplished little in the postseason, with injuries playing a key role in their underwhelming stint together. While Doncic continues to compete for the Mavericks, Porzingis has bounced around the league, most recently landing with the Boston Celtics for this season.

With both players taking their games to the next level since parting ways, the duo has gone down as one of the NBA's biggest what-ifs.

On former NBA player JJ Redick's "Old Man & The Three" podcast, Porzingis shed light on what went wrong in Dallas. Specifically, he was asked about the "pissing contest" as the two young stars fought to establish their place.

"Early on, for sure, but I think we both tried to make it work," Porzingis said. "It's just I think communication, like maturity, communication on both of our parts should have been better."

Looking at the statistics of Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis' time together

Although the duo of Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis failed to capture an NBA title, they were incredibly young. Since then, both have taken their games to the next level, with Porzingis notably returning to form in Washington, where he stayed healthy.

But what would have happened if the duo of Doncic and Porzingis had stayed together? While no one will ever know, it's interesting to take a look back at their time together and theorize about how things may have played out differently had Porzingis stayed healthy.

Throughout the three seasons Porzingis was with Dallas, he and Doncic played 110 games together out of a possible 202. During that time, they posted a 67-43 record, with Doncic averaging 28.5, 9.6 rebounds and 9.1 assists points per game when both men suited up.

On the flip side, Porzingis averaged 19.1 ppg and 8.5 rpg, stark differences from the 23.2 ppg and 8.4 rpg he averaged in Washington last season. In addition to the growth as a player, Porzingis also believes that both he and Doncic were young, and had growing left to do.

Although they've gone on to thrive in their own rights, the duo of Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis will always be tied to a what-if?