Dallas Mavericks Blog – Page 82 – NBA Blog

Mavericks players are against idea of no championship rings

When you win an NBA championship, you are supposed to get a championship ring.

That’s just how it is.

And after winning the 2011 championship, Dallas Mavericks players want to be able to show off the same type of bling other previous winners have gotten to show off.

The AP reports:

Mark Cuban’s idea to celebrate an NBA championship with something other than a ring is being soundly rejected by his players, his coach and the top guy in the front office.

“We’ve got to talk to him about that,” said Dirk Nowitzki, the finals MVP. “I don’t think the last word has been spoken yet. We know he always wants to do something different, something bigger. But the ring is just so classic. I think I would vote for a ring. I mean, I’m a man. I don’t know how I’d feel about a bracelet.”

Donnie Nelson, the president of basketball operations, even made a bold offer.

“I’ll pay for them,” he said. “Now, they might have to be plastic.”

Cuban called rings “old school … done,” adding that he wants to “take it to the next level and do something different.”

I will assume Cuban will give the players what they want.

DeShawn Stevenson says Heat have no class

Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas reports:

DeShawn Stevenson admitted that beating self-proclaimed king LeBron James made the Dallas Mavericks’ championship even sweeter.

“It makes me feel good, man, to beat him, to beat that Miami team,” Stevenson told ESPNDallas.com in an AmericanAirlines Arena hallway after the Mavs clinched the title with Sunday’s Game 6 win. “The way they act, the way they treated Dirk [Nowitzki], all the things that they said were very classless. To win on the court the way we did it, it was wonderful.”

The Mavericks thought James and Dwyane Wade disrespected Nowitzki, who was named Finals MVP, by mocking his cough in front of television cameras after the Game 5 shootaround. Nowitzki, who played Game 4 with a sinus infection that caused a nasty cough and a 101-degree fever, called the incident “a little childish, a little arrogant.”

Stevenson’s hostile history with James goes back much further than these Finals. Stevenson’s Washington Wizards were eliminated by James’ Cleveland Cavaliers three consecutive postseasons.

The last Wizards-Cavaliers series, in 2008, featured a feud between Stevenson and James that eventually involved a pair of high-profile rappers.

It started with Stevenson calling James “overrated.” LeBron answered that responding to Stevenson would be like rap icon Jay-Z getting into it with one-hit wonder Soulja Boy.

NBA heads to 2011 offseason of uncertainty

The AP reports:

“It’s an odd position, when the game is the best it’s ever been, when the ratings are the highest they’ve ever been, when the excitement is the greatest it’s ever (been),” Players Association attorney Jeffrey Kessler said last week. “It’s sort of odd to see the owners say we’re going to destroy this game unless you change this whole system. Players just want to play.”

Nobody can predict when they’ll get that chance again. When the Dallas Mavericks finished off the Miami Heat on Sunday night in Game 6, it sent the NBA into a most uncertain offseason.

Owners and players are nowhere close on a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the one that expires June 30. Without a new deal, players say they have been told by the owners they will be locked out.

The NBA was reduced to a 50-game season by a work stoppage in 1998-99, and the loss of games is a threat now. Citing leaguewide losses of about $300 million this season, the league hasn’t budged on its desire for significant changes to the financial structure, ranging from reductions in the length of contracts and the amount of guarantees, to an overhaul of the salary cap system that would prevent teams from being able to exceed it, as they can now under certain exceptions.

And Stern said the record TV ratings and all the other positive attention the league has received doesn’t make him any more motivated to get this settled, since he’d want to do it anyway.

“I don’t need any external prod to want to be able to make a deal,” he said…

The sides are scheduled to meet twice this week and say they hope for frequent discussions before the end of the month. Should those fail, the NBA could follow the NFL’s labor situation right into the court system, which both sides say they want to avoid. So although a work stoppage in July wouldn’t seem to have much effect since games aren’t going on, Stern insists “we very much feel the weight of the deadline.”

NBA Finals Game 6 earns its best TV rating in 11 years

The AP reports:

The Dallas Mavericks’ clinching victory in the NBA finals earned the highest preliminary television rating for a Game 6 in 11 years.

The Mavericks’ 105-95 win over the Miami Heat on Sunday on ABC drew a 15.0 overnight rating. That’s the best for a Game 6 since 2000, when the Lakers clinched a title over the Pacers. There had been five series since that went at least six games.

The rating was up 35 percent from Game 6 of the 2006 finals between the same teams, when the Heat clinched a championship. It was up 22 percent from last year’s Game 6, when the Lakers routed the Celtics to force Game 7.

Ad in Miami Herald sends congrats to Heat for winning championship they did not win

The AP reports:

A full-page ad that ran in Monday’s Miami Herald reads “Congratulations Miami” next to photos of Heat championship T-shirts and hats from Macy’s. One T-shirt reads “Heat 2011 NBA Finals Champions” and the ad shows the Heat’s logo on a hat with the words “NBA Champions.”

The ad ran under a story about the Heat’s loss.

The newspaper has issued a correction and apologized for any inconvenience.

Champion Mavericks arrive home in Dallas

The AP reports:

The Dallas Mavericks returned home in triumph on Monday, cheered by hundreds of fans celebrating the franchise’s first NBA title and the first professional championship of any kind in the area in more than a decade.

Owner Mark Cuban walked off the plane at Love Field carrying the championship trophy he was handed after Sunday’s Game 6 win over the Miami Heat.

Next came forward Dirk Nowitzki with hardware of his own: The NBA finals MVP trophy that was awarded after he overcame a finger injury, illness and smothering defense from the Heat to power fourth-quarter comeback wins…

The team charter passed under a water cannon salute after it landed. Cuban, a cigar in his mouth, walked off first, followed by Nowitzki, both holding the trophies high. They then went across the runway to a security fence, touching off a celebration that lasted about 30 minutes and allowing fans who spent hours waiting in 90-degree heat to get a taste of the title.

Cuban eventually handed off the championship trophy to members of the team, who walked along the fence as fans held cell phone high to take photos. As Nowitzki was driven away, he held the MVP trophy aloft through the sun roof of his sport utility vehicle.

Details have not been announced on a celebration parade. Cuban repeated Monday that he will personally pay for the event.

Mavs beat Heat 105-95 in Game 6 to win 2011 NBA championship

The AP reports:

For Dirk Nowitzki, the resume is complete. He’s an NBA champion.

For LeBron James, the agonizing wait continues for at least one more year.

A season that began with Miami celebrating the signings of James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh—along with the promise of championships—ended on the very same floor, with the Dallas Mavericks hoisting the title trophy for the first time in their franchise history after beating the Heat 105-95 on Sunday night. The Mavericks won four of the series’ last five games, a turnabout that could not have been sweeter.

“I really still can’t believe it,” said Nowitzki, who had 21 points and took home finals MVP honors.

He and Jason Terry, who led the Mavs with 27 points, were the two remaining players from the Dallas team that lost to Miami in the 2006 finals.

“Tonight,” Terry said, “we got vindication.”

James did not. Not even close, and a year unlike any other ended they way they all have so far—with him still waiting for an NBA title.

He scored 21 points for Miami, shook a few hands afterward, and departed before most of the Mavs tugged on their championship hats and T-shirts. Bosh had 19, Mario Chalmers 18 and Wade 17 for the Heat.

The AP reports:

LeBron James said losing the NBA finals to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday felt like a “personal failure,” but he refused to let it bother him that so many people were happy to see him falter.

James’ first finals with the Miami Heat ended Sunday with the Mavericks’ 105-95 victory in Game 6. James started strong and wilted at the finish, just the way the Heat did in the series.

The AP reports:

Mark Cuban zipped his lips and won a championship.

And when it was time for his old nemesis David Stern to hand him the shiny gold trophy, this was his big chance to say anything he wanted, with everyone watching.

So, what did he do?

He stood behind a 78-year-old man and let him take center stage, a reward for Donald Carter having founded the team 31 long years ago. He brought his wife and three kids on the podium to enjoy the moment. He even realized how corny he was being when he told his toddler son, “This could be yours.”

Then, out came the Mark Cuban most sports fans remember.

He swore in multiple TV interviews to emphasize how proud he was of his fans. He walked into a postgame news conference talking on the phone, hung up and hollered, “Did anybody inform you guys, we’re the world champions?!” On his way out, he took the trophy with him and declared it was spending the night in his room.

The AP reports:

The Mavericks took control in the second half of the game after some wild momentum shifts in the opening two quarters. Miami took its last lead of the game just 64 seconds into the second half, lost it 16 seconds later and chased the Mavericks the rest of the way.

Nowitzki sealed the win with 2:27 left, hitting a jumper near the Miami bench to put Dallas up 99-89. He then walked to the Mavs’ side slowly, right fist clenched above his head.

“This is a true team,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. “This is an old bunch. We don’t run fast or jump high. These guys had each other’s backs. We played the right way. We trusted the pass. This is a phenomenal thing for the city of Dallas.”

Carlisle joined a highly elite group with the win—those with NBA titles as both a player and a head coach. He was a part of the Boston Celtics team that won the championship over the Houston Rockets in 1986.

The AP reports:

Dirk Nowitzki has been named Most Valuable Player of the NBA finals for his huge role in leading the Dallas Mavericks to their first championship.

Although the German star struggled in the Mavericks’ Game 6 victory on Sunday, he certainly put them in position to win it all, overcoming injury and illness to power fourth-quarter comebacks from deficits of 12, nine and four points in Dallas’ previous wins.

The AP reports:

Nowitzki missed 11 of his first 12 shots and matched his series low with 21 points, yet with Jason Terry scoring 27 and every starter and reserve making some sort of significant contribution, the Mavericks beat the Miami Heat 105-95 Sunday night to wrap up the first title in franchise history.

The difference-makers were everywhere: from Ian Mahinmi with his step-back jumper and third quarter buzzer-beater to DeShawn Stevenson and his three 3-pointers in the first half; from Brian Cardinal making a 3 and drawing a charge to J.J. Barea improving to 3-0 as a starter.

Fake DeShawn Stevenson Facebook pages causes confrontation with Rick Carlisle

Tim MacMahon of ESPN reports:

DeShawn Stevenson does not have a Facebook page.

That’s newsworthy because somebody who claims to be Stevenson posted on Facebook: “I told em Lebron is Overrated but did they listen? swag.”

Coach Rick Carlisle caught wind of that and confronted Stevenson, telling him to stop talking trash about LeBron James. Stevenson, whose history of taking verbal jabs at King James goes back several years, was confused and told his coach that the latest comment didn’t come from him.

“There’s like 37 people that are acting like me on Facebook,” Stevenson said. “I mean, if you look at me and look at all these tattoos, do you think I’d be sitting on the Internet and typing? C’mon, man. Sometimes you’ve got to look at a person. I would not be in my house on a computer typing nothing about anybody.”

Dwyane Wade says hip will be fine for NBA Finals Game 6

Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports:

Two days after bruising his left hip in Thursday’s Game 5 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in these NBA Finals, Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade was back on the court at practice Saturday at AmericanAirlines Arena, moving without visible discomfort.

Wade shot 3-pointers with teammates during the portion of practice opened to the media, wearing no additional padding or bracing on the hip.

Coach Erik Spoelstra said Wade did not participate in contact work Saturday.

“He went through the walkthrough part of our practice,” he said.

Wade said it was a collective decision to hold him out of the contact portion of practice.

“Just another day to get in treatment and getting rest,” he said, “but I’ll be totally fine when it comes to tomorrow.”

Jason Terry has an NBA championship trophy tattoo

The AP reports:

Jason Terry put his faith in these Dallas Mavericks in ink. On the inside of his right biceps.

With one more win, he’ll get to keep his tattoo of the NBA’s championship trophy – plus have the real thing.

Terry had his title hopes injected into his arm in October, during a get-together at teammate DeShawn Stevenson’s house. At the start of the playoffs, Terry vowed to have it removed if the Mavericks didn’t win it all.

Thanks largely to him regaining his shooting touch in that inked-up arm, Terry and the Mavs flew to Miami on Friday closer to a title than ever before in franchise history. It could belong to them as soon as Sunday night.

“We put ourselves in the situation we wanted, to go back there with this opportunity,” center Tyson Chandler said. “But we can’t get too ahead of ourselves. We can’t get caught up in all the hoopla.”