Whether it's watching the tranquil sunsets through rose-colored glasses in Maui or feeling the glare of another season as Mavericks coach, the future has never looked brighter for Don Nelson.
The island-bound coach said Friday that Dallas and Maui are his only options in terms of future employment. Coaching another NBA team has lost its appeal.
At the same time, owner Mark Cuban reiterated that the choice to coach next season will be Nelson's more than Cuban's. And Nelson plans to take his time, the way Cuban took his time during the season in weighing Nelson's future.
"I'm 63, and I don't want to move around if I don't have to, starting all over and all those kinds of things," Nelson said. "We love the Dallas area. My wife is comfortable. It's a comfort zone that is important to us. I'd rather not move around again. I don't think I would do that. I think the decision has to be made about me here."
Via Dallas Morning News
Dallas Mavericks
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As good as the Mavericks were this season, they are not a complete product. Not even close.
They know exactly what they need to give them the best chance to make the next step.
So are Maverick fans ready to embrace longtime nemesis Karl Malone? Or long-forgotten Alonzo Mourning?
Those big men will be two of the primary targets on the Mavericks' radar screen as they consider their options in the free-agent market, which figures to be their most viable way of beefing up.
"It's going to be a really interesting year for free agents," owner Mark Cuban said. "There are a lot more free agents than there are dollars and slots. And hopefully, that will create opportunities for us.
"Free agents are going to fall through the cracks. There are six teams with [salary] cap room. But there's more than 12 good free agents out there."
Good players are going to be scrambling for fewer dollars this off-season. And while marquee players such as Jermaine O'Neal won't be within the Mavericks' reach without giving up key players in a sign-and-trade scenario, players such as Malone and Mourning could be in their price range. The Mavericks will have their $4.5 million veteran salary-cap exception to use this summer.
Malone, who turns 40 on July 24, is weighing his options. He has spent his entire career in Utah. And he is on track to break the all-time NBA scoring record within the next two seasons.
Malone may be ready to break away from Utah. His wife already has made scouting trips to Dallas, San Antonio and Los Angeles. Malone is one of the most durable and toughest players in the league, never missing more than two games in any season.
Rest assured that the Mavericks are one of the only teams Malone is considering as a free-agent destination.
"They are definitely high on my list," Malone said Friday from his home in Utah. "And I don't have a very big list, either."
Via Dallas Morning News
Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz
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Tony Parker missed Thursday morning's shootaround after becoming ill Wednesday night.
He still started Game 6 of the Western Conference finals against the Mavericks, though.
"He's going to play no matter what his endurance is," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said before the game. according to the Associated Press. "They put him on an IV all day to put some liquid in his body. Hopefully it'll be enough for him to maintain."
Parker began vomiting and suffering from other flulike symptoms Wednesday night, Popovich said. He stayed at the hotel Thursday morning while the rest of the team worked at American Airlines Center.
Via San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks
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Mavericks May 2003 Archive
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Star-Telegram | May 30, 2003
Making the exit into summer is never easy.
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Star-Telegram | May 30, 2003
Mavericks forward Walt Williams arrived at American Airlines Center on Thursday wearing a John Elway throwback jersey.
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Atlanta Journal-Constitution | May 30, 2003
The San Antonio Spurs know a thing or three about fourth-quarter collapses.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 30, 2003
The Spurs were hung over from their loss two nights earlier and hungry.
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Dallas Morning News | May 29, 2003
Dirk Nowitzki and coach Don Nelson reiterated Wednesday that the Mavericks' all-star will not play in Game 6 on Thursday night unless he is 100 percent.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 29, 2003
Their 19-point lead was already long gone, their trip to the NBA Finals postponed for at least two days, when the Spurs mercifully ended Dallas' scoring binge Tuesday night by calling timeout.
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New York Daily News | May 29, 2003
Even after admitting to being "totally shocked" by San Antonio's collapse Tuesday night, Byron Scott isn't counting on the Western Conference finals going the full seven games.
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Houston Chronicle | May 28, 2003
ready to call Larry Brown their top choice to replace Rudy Tomjanovich as coach.
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Dallas Morning News | May 28, 2003
Strange as it sounds, the Mavericks should actually feel lucky about Dirk Nowitzki's knee injury.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 28, 2003
The Western Conference finals trophy was somewhere in the building.
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Dallas Morning News | May 28, 2003
Mavericks coach Don Nelson vigorously denied having any contact with the Houston Rockets about their vacant coaching position, contrary to reports in Houston.
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Dallas Morning News | May 28, 2003
This Mavericks season has been a lot of things.
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Star-Telegram | May 28, 2003
If Don Nelson wants to return to coach the Mavericks next season, the choice will be his.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 27, 2003
By the end of May, those teams still alive in the NBA playoffs have been going at it for about seven months without a real break.
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Dallas Morning News | May 27, 2003
As a big believer in doing all the little things that go into winning basketball games, Don Nelson will start with the three M's – Mexican food, margaritas and mariachis.
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New York Times | May 27, 2003
For a moment, Byron Scott tried his best to remain politically correct, to point out that the Dallas Mavericks were not done in the Western Conference finals.
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Dallas Morning News | May 26, 2003
Mavericks coach Don Nelson knew Dirk Nowitzki wanted to play more than anything in Sunday's Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 26, 2003
The game was less than three minutes old, Steve Nash and Nick Van Exel had already hit 3-pointers and the 20,561 fans filling American Airlines Center on Sunday night were going crazy.
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Dallas Morning News | May 26, 2003
The Mavericks are spinning closer to a fairly ignominious NBA record – for being on the wrong side a free throw shooting discrepancy in the playoffs.
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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | May 26, 2003
Now that the New Jersey Nets have made shambles of the National Basketball Association Eastern Conference playoffs, are on top of their game, are eagerly awaiting a return to the NBA Finals and are being considered a legitimate championship contender, what do they get to do?
Take 10 days off to cool down.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 26, 2003
In every playoff series this season, Tim Duncan had seen the same set of images.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 26, 2003
Clever Don Nelson.
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New York Post | May 26, 2003
After being teased again by Byron Scott about getting more action in the Detroit series, Dikembe Mutombo got less - four straight DNPs.
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New York Times | May 26, 2003
The Nets, dizzy in their own fantasy last season, raced to their first N.
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Dallas Morning News | May 25, 2003
For one brief moment, Nick Van Exel ran out of answers Saturday.
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Dallas Morning News | May 25, 2003
One by one, the Mavericks said they are ready to circle the wagons.
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Detroit News | May 25, 2003
The New Jersey Nets have bitter memories of last year's NBA Finals, when they were swept by the Los Angeles Lakers.
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New York Post | May 25, 2003
With precisely 7:45 remaining in the fourth quarter of Game 3, and the Mavericks already frantically pleading for a knee transplant donor to replace Dirk Nowitzki's badly sprained left one, NBA and TNT officials began filing out of the Western Conference playoff series.
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New York Post | May 25, 2003
And on the 10th day, they'll rest.
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Dallas Morning News | May 25, 2003
The news was good regarding Dirk Nowitzki's left knee.
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Dallas Morning News | May 24, 2003
The pain was bad enough already.
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Dallas Morning News | May 24, 2003
Even before Dirk Nowitzki went down with a knee injury, the Mavericks were already hurting in Game 3.
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Dallas Morning News | May 24, 2003
The Mavericks have tried Raef LaFrentz as a starter and as a reserve against San Antonio and still haven't found the best way to use the 6-11 center.
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Dallas Morning News | May 24, 2003
If David Robinson is the Spurs' Admiral and Tim Duncan is the battleship, then Tony Parker is the little speedboat who left a big wake in Game 3.
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Dallas Morning News | May 24, 2003
The pain was bad enough already.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 24, 2003
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich didn't know where to start.
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Toronto Star | May 24, 2003
The search for a new Toronto Raptor coach may be slowing down but it's also widening.
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Dallas Morning News | May 23, 2003
A portion of Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's response to Staff Writer Eddie Sefko's e-mailed question about Don Nelson's ejection in Game 2:
"It's disgraceful that Mr.
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Dallas Morning News | May 23, 2003
Nick Van Exel's assertion that the officials took Game 2 from the Mavericks didn't sit well with some of the Spurs.
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Dallas Morning News | May 23, 2003
Two games into the Western Conference finals and all the Mavericks have won is the home-court advantage.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 23, 2003
Being the realist that he is, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich didn't wake up Thursday thinking he suddenly had a team of great free-throw shooters.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 23, 2003
Fans in both Dallas and San Antonio have cried foul after the first two games of the Western Conference finals.
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New York Times | May 23, 2003
Western Conference finals began as a showcase for the N.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 22, 2003
Michael Finley swished a 3-pointer, the Spurs' 28-point lead was down to nine, and the 18,797 fans filling the SBC Center seemed to groan at once.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 22, 2003
Mavericks forward Eduardo Najera did not play Wednesday because of a bruised right thigh.
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Star-Telegram | May 22, 2003
Just in case the Mavericks were contemplating the wild and crazy idea of turning the I-35 Series into a one-way street with all signs pointing north to Dallas, the Spurs and the NBA combined to slap that notion right out of their heads Wednesday night.
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Dallas Morning News | May 22, 2003
True story: Last summer TNT analyst Mike Fratello was mentioned as a candidate to coach a pro basketball team in Moscow.
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Dallas Morning News | May 22, 2003
Climbing out of holes has been standard for the Mavericks this season.
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Ft. Worth Star-Telegram | May 22, 2003
Don't mess with Texas.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 21, 2003
Technical pros behind Spurs broadcasts are working hard to prevent a repeat tonight of Monday's widespread radio problems, which led to fuzzy and incomplete broadcasts of the first Western Conference finals game.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 21, 2003
At the time, there was nothing funny about Malik Rose lying motionless on the court late in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 21, 2003
The Spurs don't expect the Mavericks to make 49 free throws tonight.
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Dallas Morning News | May 21, 2003
Every rivalry needs hostility, arrogance, threats and boasts.
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Dallas Morning News | May 21, 2003
The Mavericks have not beaten the rap just yet.
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Atlanta Journal-Constitution | May 21, 2003
The 76ers and Pistons were in the same place my smart-aleck kids say they can find me: stuck in the 60s.
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Ft. Worth Star-Telegram | May 20, 2003
All but given up for dead in the first half, the Mavericks rallied from an 18-point deficit and stole Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals as they stunned the San Antonio Spurs 113-110.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 20, 2003
It looked just like Don Nelson and his populous brain trust had planned it during another back-to-the-drawing-board session at halftime.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 20, 2003
The unexpected strategy was at the free-throw line.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 20, 2003
The NBA moved up the starting times for four of the possible seven games in the Western Conference finals to better accommodate the Central time zone viewers.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 20, 2003
Spurs forward Malik Rose suffered a stinger in his back late in Monday's playoff game and should play in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals, a Spurs team doctor said.
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Dallas Morning News | May 20, 2003
The first foul call of the Western Conference finals came well before tip-off on Monday.
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Dallas Morning News | May 20, 2003
The mayors of Dallas and San Antonio have wagered a bet on who will the NBA Western Conference Finals.
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Dallas Morning News | May 20, 2003
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said his club would not retaliate in a ticket imbroglio that flared up just as his franchise was about to take a second bite off the ol' conference championship apple.
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Dallas Morning News | May 20, 2003
The Mavericks found out Monday that the heavily favored San Antonio Spurs aren’t infallible.
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New York Post | May 20, 2003
Un less the Mavericks thoroughly disgrace themselves against the Spurs, we'll probably never be able to confirm what evil lurks in the heart of Mark Cuban regarding Don Nelson's coaching future in Dallas.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 19, 2003
The Mavericks arrive in San Antonio with a respectful air for the Spurs, a team they consider the best in the league.
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Star-Telegram | May 19, 2003
The Spurs can't wait to do the Texas Two-Step.
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Star-Telegram | May 19, 2003
Kicking back in those seats that only the beautifully rich can swing, Donnie Nelson pondered the million-dollar question of the Western Conference Finals: Can the Mavericks stop -- better yet, slow down -- Tim Duncan?
"Is that ever the question, man alive," answered Nelson, the Mavs' assistant coach/president of basketball operations, from a courtside seat at American Airlines Center minutes before a light Sunday afternoon practice.
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Washington Post Columnist Tony Kornheiser | May 19, 2003
Go ahead, keep telling yourself that the NBA playoffs are in great shape because now you'll get to see the "new stars" of the NBA.
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Dallas Morning News | May 18, 2003
Excluding soccer, there is nothing better in sports than a win-or-go-home playoff game.
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Dallas Morning News | May 18, 2003
Before he tries to motivate his team to outfox and outbox Gregg Popovich's team, Don Nelson might want to buy the San Antonio coach and his longtime friend a cold beer or six.
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Dallas Morning News | May 18, 2003
It's impossible to try to read between the lines when Mark Cuban is asked about coach Don Nelson's future.
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Sacramento Bee | May 18, 2003
They needed to dangle over the cliff and feel the haunting wind whistle past, needed to know that ridicule was bearing down with a G-force they could not imagine.
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Houston Chronicle | May 18, 2003
How many times can they survive the walk across the high wire as if the basketball version of the Wallenda Family?
Two series and two Game 7s.
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Washington Post Columnist Michael Wilbon | May 18, 2003
Perhaps no 60-win team has been more maligned, perceived as more flawed than the Dallas Mavericks -- a team that acknowledges its struggles on defense, and preferences to play run-and-gun basketball and avoid toe-to-toe traditional battles with the league's heavyweights.
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Ft. Worth Star-Telegram | May 17, 2003
The Mavericks played hard in Game 6, which was evident by the late rally that nearly produced a series-clinching victory against the Sacramento Kings.
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Ft. Worth Star-Telegram | May 17, 2003
The Mavericks have been here before.
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Dallas Morning News | May 17, 2003
Don Nelson is trying to figure out what to do about Vlade Divac, a question that is on a lot of Mavericks' minds.
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Dallas Morning News | May 17, 2003
The playoffs are when superstars shine brightest.
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Sacramento Bee | May 16, 2003
Although NBA players and fans have caught the Dirk Nowitzki act for five seasons now, Hedo Turkoglu remembers the Dallas Mavericks forward from a different era.
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Star-Telegram | May 16, 2003
NBA commissioner David Stern has a message for those who objected to the back-to-back setup of Games 3 and 4 of the Mavericks-Kings series.
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San Francisco Chronicle | May 16, 2003
Chris Webber, the franchise player, watched from the bench with torn cartilage in his left knee.
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Dallas Morning News | May 16, 2003
The Mavericks played hard.
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The Sacramento Bee | May 15, 2003
It never was the ultimate point-guard showdown that everyone portrayed, but the Mavericks' 3-2 lead in the Western Conference semifinals has come with the added revenge of Steve Nash outplaying Mike Bibby and the Dallas backcourt as a whole bettering its Sacramento counterpart.
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New York Times | May 15, 2003
Dallas Mavericks guard Raja Bell has a litany of travel horror stories from his two seasons in the Continental Basketball Association.
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Dallas Morning News | May 14, 2003
Mavericks guard Raja Bell and forward Dirk Nowitzki were fined by the NBA on Tuesday for incidents that occurred in the fourth quarter of Dallas' 99-83 loss to Sacramento on Sunday at Arco Arena.
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Dallas Morning News | May 14, 2003
The Mavericks' playoff run, regardless of how far it goes, is a clear success that has Mark Cuban excited about the progress of the franchise, the owner said before Game 5 on Tuesday.
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Dallas Morning News | May 14, 2003
Mavericks assistant coach Del Harris spent several minutes before Tuesday’s game talking privately with Shawn Bradley in a corner of the locker room.
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Dallas Morning News | May 14, 2003
There was Raef LaFrentz blocking a shot at one end and scoring on a driving layup at the other in the pivotal third quarter of the Mavericks' 112-93 win over Sacramento on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center.
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Dallas Morning News | May 14, 2003
It was celebrity night at American Airlines Center, what with golfers Greg Norman, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Nike chief Phil Knight – all in town for the EDS Byron Nelson Championship – dotting the audience.
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Sacramento Bee | May 14, 2003
Whoever said this would be a season unlike any other in the new age of the Kings never had this in mind, when they suddenly need a winning streak to advance and will walk the elimination gangplank alone for the first time in two years to the week.
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Dallas Morning News | May 13, 2003
The time has come to pay the man.
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Dallas Morning News | May 13, 2003
The Sacramento Kings did more than even the series with the Mavericks by winning Game 4.
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Dallas Morning News | May 12, 2003
It was by no means the end, the Sacramento Kings coming one shot, one defensive stop, one something away from capturing the one that got away.
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Sacramento Bee | May 12, 2003
Mark Cuban, the Dallas owner who hasn't seen a referee he likes yet, unloaded on his fellow NBA bosses about not getting loud enough in voicing any displeasure with officiating.
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Dallas Morning News | May 11, 2003
With 7:50 left in the first quarter, the Arco Arena crowd cheered heartily when Mavericks forward Eduardo Najera left the game after getting into a couple of scraps.
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Dallas Morning News | May 11, 2003
On a spellbinding and exhausting night, the Mavericks place on the growth curve toward an NBA championship became clear to them.
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The Times-Picayune | May 11, 2003
One little press release has created as much fallout around the NBA as a 1950s-era nuclear weapons test in the Nevada desert.
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Sacramento Bee | May 10, 2003
The worst fears of the Kings were realized Friday evening when an MRI on All-Star power forward Chris Webber revealed a knee injury that might put him out for the playoffs
.
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Dallas Morning News | May 10, 2003
After scoring 124 against the Mavericks in Game 1, at least one Sacramento player didn't take kindly to having the tables turned on the Kings in Game 2.
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Dallas Morning News | May 10, 2003
It's a little early to be making any bold statements about having the upper hand, particularly when the Mavericks already have lost the home-court advantage against the Sacramento Kings.
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Associated Press | May 9, 2003
Chris Webber is expected to miss the rest of the NBA playoffs because of torn cartilage in his left knee, the Sacramento Kings announced Friday.
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Sacramento Bee | May 9, 2003
Before being wheeled out of American Airlines Center late Thursday evening, on one of the worst of all possible nights, Chris Webber clutched his injured left knee, squeezed a towel, and uttered the four words that can destroy a season.
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The Dallas Morning News | May 9, 2003
The Sacramento Kings came into Thursday's game full of confidence.
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Dallas Morning News | May 8, 2003
After Sacramento's Game 1 thumping of his team, Mavericks coach Don Nelson contemplated new ways to attack the Kings while declaring that he is at peace with whatever happens to him at season's end.
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Dallas Morning News | May 8, 2003
It's no secret that the Mavericks had serious problems with their interior personnel in Game 1 against Sacramento.
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Sacramento Bee | May 8, 2003
Tonight's Game 2 of this Western Conference semifinal series is like a free night at the buffet -- it's OK to be greedy.
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Sacramento Bee | May 8, 2003
Dallas Mavericks coach Don Nelson said Paul Silas, recently fired as the coach of the New Orleans Hornets, was expected to join him Wednesday night and accompany the team to Sacramento over the weekend.
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Sacramento Bee | May 8, 2003
They still remember Jim Jackson here, the man who started his NBA career in Big D 10 years ago.
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Dallas Morning News | May 6, 2003
Nick Van Exel is embarrassed when he thinks of the way he and Steve Nash were humbled by Sacramento's guards in last season's playoffs.
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Star Telegram | May 6, 2003
Avery Johnson said Monday that because he's under contract with the Mavericks for one more season, he can't comment on the vacant head-coaching position with the New Orleans Hornets.
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Dallas Morning News | May 6, 2003
Don Nelson was addressing media members before Game 7 of the first-round series with Portland when he was asked about possible lineup changes.
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New York Times | May 6, 2003
On more than a few occasions this season, Mark Cuban contorted his face and puffed out his pectorals: the portrait of a deranged fan coiling to strike over a missed call.
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram | May 5, 2003
It was some kind of Sunday.
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram | May 5, 2003
Don Nelson likes what 6-foot-11 Raef LaFrentz and 7-foot-6 Shawn Bradley give the Mavericks.
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram | May 5, 2003
Damon Stoudamire has endured the disappointment of less-than-inspired playoff games by the Trail Blazers, but he said Sunday's 107-95 loss in Game 7 to the Mavericks ranks as one of the toughest.
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Dallas Morning News | May 5, 2003
Mark Cuban took a look at the schedule for the second-round series against Sacramento and realized the person in charge of it is in desperate need – of a lobotomy.
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Dallas Morning News | May 5, 2003
The Mavericks won't have time to take a breath.
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Dallas Morning News | May 5, 2003
In terms of elegance, magnificence or the final box score, Eduardo Najera's day looked like a disaster.
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Dallas Morning News | May 5, 2003
You go to a seventh game for only the second time in the Mavericks' history Sunday and find yourself neck-deep in history, any way you look.
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Houston Chronicle | May 5, 2003
After losing three straight games to the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, Dallas Mavericks guard Nick Van Exel couldn't sleep Saturday night as he waited for Sunday's Game 7 tipoff.
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Chicago Tribune | May 5, 2003
The Dallas Mavericks avoided making unpleasant history Sunday with a 107-95 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers that sent them on to a Western Conference semifinal matchup with the Sacramento Kings.
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Dallas Morning News | May 4, 2003
After staving off elimination in three straight games, the Trail Blazers finally get to see how the Mavericks respond under pressure Sunday in Game 7.
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Associated Press | May 3, 2003
The Dallas Mavericks started the season with 14 straight victories, one shy of the league record.
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Salt Lake Tribune | May 3, 2003
"Pick" might be leaving, but Larry Miller believes that "Roll" is not.
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Sacramento Bee | May 3, 2003
The Kings have one playoff series under their belts and the experience that comes with success in a battle.
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Dallas Morning News writer Kevin B. Blackstone | May 3, 2003
It doesn't really matter when this Mavericks' season ends.
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram | May 3, 2003
A week ago, a safe bet would have been the Mavericks playing Sunday at American Airlines Center.
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram | May 3, 2003
Though the Mavericks were the first team to fall victim to the best-of-seven change in the first round, Don Nelson said the new format is fair.
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Dallas Morning News | May 2, 2003
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban hasn't been fined by the NBA all season, nor does he expect to be now, after using the George Karl loophole to make a point about Wednesday's Game 5 officiating.
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Dallas Morning News | May 2, 2003
In the immediate aftermath of Portland's first victory after four games in this best-of-7 series against the Mavericks, I dismissed the breakthrough as much ado about nothing.
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New York Times | May 1, 2003
Amid controversy and an injury, Scottie Pippen returned to the Portland lineup to help the Trail Blazers stave off elimination tonight in their first-round playoff series with the Dallas Mavericks.
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Dallas Morning News | May 1, 2003
Mavericks point guard Steve Nash had his second consecutive poor performance Wednesday night, conceding that his sore right hip has become a concern, but refusing to use it as an excuse.
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Dallas Morning News | May 1, 2003
During Don Nelson's playing days in Boston, coach Red Auerbach would use cutthroat strategies such as turning off the heat or the hot water in an opponent's locker room.
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