All in this together It doesn't make any sense. The same franchise that had a point guard dribble out the clock in a tie game against the Lakers. The same franchise that once had an 11-win team. The team that once gave Raef Lafrentz and Shawn Bradley substantial contracts. The team that got rid of Jason Kidd, Jimmy Jackson and Jamal Mashburn. It's a team that jettisoned Kidd, Steve Nash and Devin Harris.
The same franchise of Tony Dumas, Donald Hodge, Roy Tarpley, Uwe Blab, Bill Wennington, Pavel Podkolzin, Doug Smith, Morlon Wiley, Wang Zhizhi, Nick Fazekas, Jeff Cross and Corny Thompson.
The Dallas Mavericks are world champions. They beat the Miami Heat 105-95 tonight to win the NBA title.
I thought several things going in. I thought the Heat would need to blow the Mavericks out to win. I didn't think that blow out would come in the first quarter. I thought the third quarter would be gigantic, and the Mavericks absolutely killed it.
I did think Dirk Nowitzki would need to be better. He wasn't. I thought the peripheral guys would need to be gigantic. They were.
The Mavericks completely and undoubtedly deserve this. No question. No doubt. The Mavericks defeated the Portland Trailblazers, Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City Thunder and the hated Miami Heat. They left it all on the court every other night.
I should know. No one doubted the Mavericks this year more than me. I was an absolute dick. I think my complaints had quite a bit of credence. And, honestly, I think the "nobody believed in us" schtick is kind of old. You can't cry wolf over and over and then expect everyone to come running.
Mark Cuban nor any Maverick operative can deny that the Mavericks were bad right when the Heat won the title in 2006. When I say "bad," I mean the playoffs. No one's ever denied that the Mavericks weren't a good team that wouldn't win you 50+ games a year. They've proven themselves.
However, first-round exit after first-round exit grew old and tired. Watching teams completely out-athlete, out-hustle, out-rebound, out-defense, out-everything the Mavericks since game three of the 2006 Finals.
There was room for doubt. But as I've always said, "If you want all the talk to go away, win." Winning means everything. Winning means everyone will forget about Nowitzki's 8-26 shooting night. Winning will erase the 2006 Finals, the Golden State Warriors, Shan Foster, Denver Nuggets, Mo Ager, Josh Howard and all the other dozen or so goofs and downfalls that have defined the Dallas Mavericks the last five years.
It's all gone. Erased. No one's going to remember or bring it up again with any earnestness.
As all the bad stuff melts away, some guys now have rings with some element of deservedness (is that even a fucking word?). More on Dirk Nowitzki later. Peja Stojakovic has a ring now. Shawn Marion really deserves this. He was the most consistent Maverick all series. Tyson Chandler. Brian Cardinal.
All dudes that have logged a shitload of minutes in this league and many probably don't have a lot of minutes left. Many will leave the game in the next couple of years, but they will leave having been on top of the mountain, the best in the game.
By the way, I called this motherfucker. Mavs in six. Suck it. Here's what I wrote:
Mavericks in 6
Dirk's different. This is a team of destiny. A team defying all odds, so why should that change? I said I wouldn't pick against them again after the Los Angeles sweep and I'll stand by that. I think the depth will hurt the Heat. I think the Mavericks are smarter and I don't think they'll fall into the same traps they did in 2006.
I stand by that. It makes sense. Dirk Nowitzki is different. The bench did eventually wear down the Heat (I think Jason Terry outscored the entire Heat bench in game six). And the Mavericks were smarter. They didn't fall into the same traps, in the end. At times, it seems that it was the same. The Heat were getting to the rim. The Mavericks weren't.
That did change. When the Mavs needed it, they got to the rim for a high-percentage shot. That is not what the 2006 Mavericks would have done in that same spot. It was a smarter, more inspired and fiery team. It was a team that was not going to walk away without a championship.
Things:
Dirk Nowitzki
I've never felt better for a human being in my life. His legacy is in fucking cement. MVP. Finals MVP. Ten-time All-Star. He has what Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone, John Stockton and others strived for their entire careers and could never get. Words can not properly express what this moment feels like. It all meant more to him than it did anyone else. That has value.
Jason Terry
No one is a playa hata on Terry more than me. He has serious flaws in his personality and game and it drives me bananas. Nobody -- nobody!!!! -- was bigger than Terry the last two games. The Mavericks win neither game without home. The dude was fucking nails tonight. Loved all he did.
Defense
I think the Mavericks are a gaggle of scorers ... that took the last three weeks to become a team of defenders. I thought they played remarkable well on defense tonight. They closed out on shooters. The lane was a bit too open sometimes. Still, the effort was completely there and defense is still 90 percent effort, 10 percent brains.
Brian Cardinal/Ian Mahinmi
Want to give some love where its due. The Custodian was great this series. In fact, it makes you wonder why he didn't get more minutes in the regular season, rotation be damned. He doesn't do anything well, but he doesn't do anything poorly. And he's The Custodian. All the dirty work is his and he'll do it until his legs fall off. Cardinal was a +18 with three points in 12 minutes. Joe John Barea was a -7 with 15 points and five assists in 29 minutes. Who's more valuable?
Mahinmi gave me effort. Give me one Mahinmi over a dozen Brendan Haywoods. Seriously. He gave you four points, three rebounds, a steal and five fouls on a night when Haywood could give you nothing (in the words of Bill Parcells, if you can dress you can play).
DeShawn Stevenson
If he were a member of the Heat, Dallas fans would hate him.
