LOS ANGELES — When you've been a champion, it can be difficult to accept any lesser purpose.
Mark Cuban, Rick Carlisle and Dirk Nowitzki were Dallas' Big Three, winning in Miami and celebrating atop the NBA mountain in 2011.
Four-and-a-half years later, the three of them are still the Mavericks' main men, yet so much has changed.
Carlisle shared big hugs with both Cuban and Nowitzki in another joyous visiting locker room late Sunday night at Staples Center. The game ball was secured for safekeeping. The Mavs' leaders were sincerely, meaningfully happy.
It was hardly some league-conquering triumph. It was only the third game of the season. It was an easy victory over a bad Lakers team.
Carlisle passed Don Nelson to become the winningest head coach in Mavericks history. It was a footnote, not the kind of NBA development that registers in the broader sports world the way a road victory does in June or DeAndre Jordan's near-jump in July.
Jordan's uber-athletic arrival would've given Cuban, Carlisle and Nowitzki renewed purpose—the possibility of contending to be champs again ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Kevin Ding
Despite Lure of Tanking, Mavs Fighting the Good but Likely Impossible Fight
November 3rd, 2015 by Kevin Ding Leave a reply »
Advertisement