An Open Letter to Mark Cuban (3-7-09 Wizards vs. Mavericks)
Posted: Sat Mar 7, 2009 10:28 pm
Dear Mr. Cuban,
First and foremost I would like to take a moment to compliment you on your devotion to the Mavericks and your passion for the game of basketball. While I myself admit I am frequently frustrated by Daniel Snyder, a local franchise owner with a similar modus operandi who tends to meddle more than I would like, I am sure that if I had the opportunity to own an NBA franchise I would run it in much the same way that you do yours.
And it is about the Mavericks that I would like to speak to you. Early in this decade yours was one of the most entertaining teams in basketball. The troika of Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash and Michael Finley was overpowering offensively and with role players like current Wizard favorite Antawn Jamison and Nick Van Exel backing them up yours was a truly incredible offensive team. Granted, it was not such an incredible defensive team, but you won plenty of games anyway. It saddened me a little when you and your front office staff began to make a more concerted effort to focus on defense, but I could not fault your intentions.
What I would like to draw your attention to, however, is what appears to be a systematic, if hopefully unintentional, uglification of the roster over the last half decade. For a fan who once enjoyed the Mavs both for their free flowing offense and the free flowing locks of Steve Nash and pleasant smile of Raja Bell, having to watch the likes of Eric Dampier (whose long socks are still not retro in a good way) and Jason Terry (whose headband does not disguise the size of his head, though I do appreciate that he tries) among others is no longer a pleasant prospect. It does not help that your current uniform package is far from my favorite. The net result is that the Mavericks are, among successful NBA teams, the least enjoyable to watch. I hope that in writing to you I have drawn this issue to your attention and I thank you in advance for the smackdown your (rather ugly) team is about to administer to my Wizards. Thank you for your time.
A concerned fan
First and foremost I would like to take a moment to compliment you on your devotion to the Mavericks and your passion for the game of basketball. While I myself admit I am frequently frustrated by Daniel Snyder, a local franchise owner with a similar modus operandi who tends to meddle more than I would like, I am sure that if I had the opportunity to own an NBA franchise I would run it in much the same way that you do yours.
And it is about the Mavericks that I would like to speak to you. Early in this decade yours was one of the most entertaining teams in basketball. The troika of Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash and Michael Finley was overpowering offensively and with role players like current Wizard favorite Antawn Jamison and Nick Van Exel backing them up yours was a truly incredible offensive team. Granted, it was not such an incredible defensive team, but you won plenty of games anyway. It saddened me a little when you and your front office staff began to make a more concerted effort to focus on defense, but I could not fault your intentions.
What I would like to draw your attention to, however, is what appears to be a systematic, if hopefully unintentional, uglification of the roster over the last half decade. For a fan who once enjoyed the Mavs both for their free flowing offense and the free flowing locks of Steve Nash and pleasant smile of Raja Bell, having to watch the likes of Eric Dampier (whose long socks are still not retro in a good way) and Jason Terry (whose headband does not disguise the size of his head, though I do appreciate that he tries) among others is no longer a pleasant prospect. It does not help that your current uniform package is far from my favorite. The net result is that the Mavericks are, among successful NBA teams, the least enjoyable to watch. I hope that in writing to you I have drawn this issue to your attention and I thank you in advance for the smackdown your (rather ugly) team is about to administer to my Wizards. Thank you for your time.
A concerned fan
