Mavs Close the Doors on Season of Turmoil

By Dorothy J. Gentry
Sports Editor
Texas Metro News

The Dallas Mavericks closed the doors on its tumultuous 24-25 season Friday night with a 120-106 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. The So-Fi play-in game determined the eighth and final playoff berth in the NBA’s Western Conference.

Instead of preparing for the postseason, less than a year after a trip to the NBA Finals, the team missed the playoffs and headed into the offseason a mere shell of who and what they were at the start.

Gone is star Luka Dončić – moved to the Los Angeles Lakers in a shocking trade that is still reverberating throughout the city and the league.

Adding insult to injury – literally – a variety of injuries ravaged the team, including a season-ending ACL injury to Kyrie Irving and other multiple injuries to key players – including new Maverick Anthony Davis – who collectively missed weeks and months of action.

A fractured fanbase ensued after the Dončić trade, leaving many to call for the ouster of GM Nico Harrison and casting suspicious eyes on new owner Patrick Dumont.

It’s a season that fans, media and even the players are glad is over because now, both the healing and the journey back to the top can begin.

“Going through all this adversity is going to make us stronger because you can’t continuously succeed without failing,” said center Dereck Lively II, during team exit interviews this weekend. “You have to be able to fail to succeed.

“We’ve been to the top of the mountain and now we’re at the bottom. It’s going to require us coming together as a team, coming together as one, so we can climb the mountaintop and get back to who we know we are.”

With a rotating lineup of 10-day contacts and patched up players, the shocking Dončić trade, fan uproar and more, the Mavs understandably lost their way this season even as the players tried to drown out the noise and continue to play each and every game despite the adversity.

Spencer Dinwiddie, who becomes a free agent this summer, put it best: “I never had a season with this many injuries and adversity.

“Some nights, basically, like six guys playing. I’ve never experienced that in my career and I think it’s a testament to the character of the overall group,” said Dinwiddie who led the Mavericks in both minutes played and assists this season.

“When we had to deal with both AD (Anthony Davis) and Kai (Kyrie Irving) being injured, we were just really short on bodies. We kept fighting and obviously had the playoffs in mind and were able to kind of make a little bit of a push toward that. Everybody kind of stood in the foxhole and didn’t blink and gave it their all,” he said.

P.J. Washington said what he’ll remember most about this season is that the team didn’t give up.

“Everybody’s resiliency, to be able to fight through everything we were going through – off the court stuff, on the court stuff; that’s what I’ll remember,” he said.  “Everybody collectively, whoever was on the court, played together and played hard for each other. And that’s all you can really ask for. I was glad I was a part of it.”

Caleb Martin joined the Mavericks in February after being traded from the Philadelphia 76ers for Quentin Grimes, expressed understanding about the emotions of both the fans and the players who were super-close to Luka.

How did he sum up the season?

“A lot of adversity, but a lot of resilience, I’d say with the guys that were super-close to Luka. You could tell the impact he had not only on this team, but the community and it was an adjustment ,” he said. “You feel for the guys, obviously, because whenever you make it to a certain point – I had the same experience in Miami where you make a run like that – it’s bigger than basketball.

“The connections you make are personal. I have friendships to this day (with Heat players) that whenever we separated, it hurt. It felt like a break-up. So it was a tough thing to deal with that you probably don’t think about from the outside. I completely understand.”

Martin went on to say he commends “those guys coming in and still working, knowing it’s on their mind and having everybody involved knowing it’s not easy to still go out and perform at a high level. Everybody has handled that in a professional way.

“In a run to the Finals, there’s a lot of highs, a lot of lows and that creates a bond that you don’t find often in this league.”

As the Mavs all go their separate ways for the summer, they’ll have plenty of time to ponder what was, what could have been and more importantly, what will be when they gather again. “I definitely think we’re more than capable of being one of the last teams standing if not the last team,” Martin said. “We definitely have the personnel and guys with the right mindset. It’s just being healthy and putting it all together.