Proud to Be a Mavs Fan (written June 21st, 2006)

Today I am proud to be a Dallas Mavericks fan.

Sound crazy? Given the fact the Mavs just completed one of the most devasting meltdowns in playoff history would make it seem crazy.

Yes, Dallas let one slip away. Six and a half minutes cost the Mavericks the title and brought on the same old criticisms of "not being tough enough." But it's not what Dallas didn't do, it's what Dwyane Wade did.

That player is something special. In 10 years we may be looking back at this series as the start of an incredible run by an incredible athlete. I foresee many championships for that young man. He transcended the 0-2 hole, Dirk Nowitzki's star status and the Mavs' home court advantage to put on a show of epic magnitude.

Saying that, let me say this: any Mavs fan not proud today was not a fan in the early 90's. They don't remember winning 11 games in the 1992-1993 season or just 13 the next year (we won 14 playoff games this year). They don't remember being voted the worst sports franchise of the decade. They don't remember staying up late, even for west coast games, to watch Terry Davis, Donald Hodge, Lorenzo Williams, Popeye Jones, Hot Rod Williams, Robert Pack and the great Oliver Miller lose game after game, night after night, season after season.

Dallas Mavericks "fans" embarrassed today weren't around when the only team we could beat was the Minnesota Timberwolves. They weren't there the night Jim Jackson missed a wide open lay-up at the buzzer that would have defeated the mighty Chicago Bulls in 1996. They don't have a shoe box full of $5 nose-bleed tickets that were good enough for floor seats because no one was ever at the games.

Mavs fans who don't recognize the team's success this year weren't jubilant when Richie Adubato was named head coach, or when we drafted Leon Smith with our #1 pick or the time we beat the Rockets in double-overtime in Houston the year they won it all.

If this is as close to a title as the Mavericks ever get, I will be proud of what we accomplished this year and in the 2006 playoffs.

Call me crazy, but today? I am proud of the Dallas Mavericks. I am proud of my team.