Purple La Kings Jersey, Admit it.
You hated the Jason Kidd trade. When Devin Harris played out of his mind to earn his first All-Star appearance - with the New Jersey Nets! - while Kidd just appeared old and getting older, you cursed the decision-making of GM Donnie Nelson.
Admit it.
You hated the way Avery Johnson was jettisoned as head coach in favor of Rick Carlisle. When the Mavs followed up their record 67-win season in 2006-07 with 51 wins and 50 wins in the next two years, you questioned the bravado of head fan and owner, Mark Cuban.
Admit it.
When Cuban faced charges of insider trading and Dirk Nowitzki\'s girlfriend was arrested on out-of-state warrants for theft of service while claiming to be pregnant with his child, you washed your hands of any hope the Mavs had for this season.
Just admit it because you weren\'t the only one. Despite the addition of career malcontent Shawn Marion along with Tim Thomas, Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross, and Kris Humphries, the mainstream media overwhelmingly picked our neighbors to the southwest, the aging San Antonio Spurs, as the favorite to challenge the Los Angeles Lakers for the rights to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals.
Things were not looking promising for the Dallas Mavericks when they opened up the season at the American Airlines Center with a lackluster loss to the disappointing Washington Wizards. Attention was diverted to the Dallas Stars, the relationship between Tony Romo and Roy Williams, and to who would replace Rudy Jaramillo as hitting coach for the Texas Rangers.
Don\'t look now, but the Dallas Mavericks may have a better chance at the championship than the Dallas Cowboys. The American Airlines Center is home to much more than Dallas concerts. The Mavericks made an early statement this season with a pair of impressive back-to-back road wins at the Staples Center against the co-tenants, Lakers and Clippers.
The Mavs look to finally be fully recovered from the national embarassment they received at the hands of the Golden State Warriors in the 2007 NBA playoffs. Questions about the toughness and leadership of MVP Dirk Nowitzki were not helped by his Aboriginal quest across Australia or his relationship with Cristal Taylor (a.k.a. Chrystal Taylor, Debra Johnson, Shana Mancini, Cristal Westerhaus, Crista Westerhays, Krista Santiago, and Crystal Santiago).
My, how quickly things change. The SEC dropped all charges against Mark Cuban and pregnancy tests turned out negative, which is a positive.
While Drew Gooden and Tim Thomas have made their careers as supporting players, a motivated Shawn Marion could be the key to becoming a tougher squad that will not get punked by the Stephen Jacksons of the world. Marion, best known for forcing a trade off the perenially successful Phoenix Suns, spent a year and a half with the Miami Heat before being exiled to the Toronto Raptors. Signing a five-year $39 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks puts Marion in a position to win and to gain the accolades he never felt he received in Phoenix.
J.J. Barea has emerged as the point guard of the future behind Jason Kidd and Quinton Ross will take much weight off the shoulders of energetic sixth man Jason Terry.
The only question mark surrounding the Dallas Mavericks at this point is the play of oft-distracted Josh Howard. Controvery has surrounded Howard since his admission of rampant drug use throughout the NBA as well as in his own personal life, his widely-seen YouTube video criticizing the national anthem, and he certainly did himself no favors by passing out fliers to his birthday party during a critical Purple La Kings Jersey playoff Purple La Kings Jersey game against the Spurs. Howard\'s teammate acknowledge that the team succeeds and fails with his performance. Whether he utilizes his abilities to the fullest remains to be seen, but being surrounded by the most talented group of teammates he has had since clinching the #1 seed for the 2007 NBA playoffs might just be the motivation he needs.
This much is certain: concerts at American Airlines Center are Purple La Kings Jersey no longer the only entertaining game in Dallas.
