"In my mind the way teams win is by focus, by having the right character, by having the right culture, and having the right dedication to work as hard as possible to create a championship-winning outcome. And if you're not doing that, you're going to lose."

"If you look at the greats in the league, the people you and I grew up with -- [Michael] Jordan, [Larry] Bird, Kobe [Bryant], Shaq [O'Neal] -- they worked really hard, every day, with a singular focus to win," he said. "And if you don't have that, it doesn't work. And if you don't have that, you shouldn't be part of the Dallas Mavericks.”
- Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont in an interview with Dallas Morning News

There are so many insane things to unpack in these two quotes it almost makes my head spin. First off, to question the character of a dude who just played through half a dozen injuries to take the Mavs to the Finals for the first time since 2011 after you’ve already fat-shamed him and said he was lazy is the type of thing that other players will remember forever. I can’t fathom any of the players in that locker room liking or agreeing with anything that’s said here. Not to mention that Dumont then goes on to bring up the incredible work ethic of… oh wait… this Shaquille O’Neal? The same Shaq that himself would admit how lazy he was and spent the summers not working out or taking any care of himself? That bastion of hard work and year-round effort.

Notice the one name that’s not in that list of players though? DIRK NOWITZKI. Only the greatest Maverick in history, the man with a literal statue outside the building and I know he knows it’s there because it’s covered in Sell The Team posters right now.

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