NBA Southwest

The Battle for Preston Hollow's Soul

Luke Crosland stands at the window of his seventh-floor office and looks out across Preston Center. In the foreground, a tangle of luxury SUVs battle for access to a shabby, two-story parking garage that seems to deteriorate before his eyes. The garage is ringed by a jumble of aging retail strips th ... More >>

Mark Cuban: Good at Owning Basketball Teams, Terrible at Real Estate

Dallas -- nay, America -- has many good reasons to love Mark Cuban. He turned the Mavericks into NBA champions. He's the most accessible billionaire in the universe. He yells at terrible refs on our behalf and feuds with the Perots. He was a disruptor before disrupting was cool. But for all of Cuban ... More >>

The Mavericks at the Granada Theater, 7/19/14

The Mavericks The Granada Theater, Dallas Saturday, July 19, 2014 Rarely does a band get back together and return to anything close to the form it once had. But judging by their performance Saturday night at the Granada Theater, the Mavericks are the exception to the rule. Since reforming in 2012 ( ... More >>

The 2014 Dallas Observer People Issue

Our third annual ode to the humans that make DFW tick.

An Ode to Bolsa's White Chocolate Rum Tile, Where Nilla Wafers and Rum Unite in Bliss

In Happy Endings, we travel the part of the globe that says "Dallas" in search of great desserts and great places to eat them. It's 6:30 on Saturday night at Bolsa's bustling indoor-outdoor bar. The rest of the world may be absorbed in a little drama called the World Cup, but this being Dallas (th ... More >>

NBA: Dallas Mav Monta Ellis' Could've-Been Game Winner Vs. Warriors Was Goaltended

It's cold comfort now, a day-and-a-half after Stephen Curry's game-ending dagger lifted the Golden State Warriors to a 122-120 victory over the Mavs at the American Airlines Center on Tuesday night, but the NBA has ruled that the Jermaine O'Neal "block" that set the stage for Curry's heroics wasn't ... More >>

Leprechauns Find End of the Rainbow. It’s Drunk.

Mike Bacsik's Radio Rebirth

After Tweeting his way into infamy, former pitcher and sports-talker Mike Bacsik is getting a second chance. Does he deserve one?

How to Make a New Holiday Tradition at Jerry World

Sometimes a lack of tradition can be a tradition unto itself. I think there are people in my life who feel bad about that, but having no obligations during the holidays brings the same wild sense of freedom as having a vacation day while the rest of the world works. The day is your own, the streets ... More >>

Dallas Mavericks Kick Off Regular Season With Uncanny Parody of "What Does the Fox Say?"

The Dallas Morning News is reporting this morning that the Mavericks' 477-game sellout streak, the longest in the NBA, could end at tonight's season opener versus the Atlanta Hawks. We can only assume the piece was written before Dirk & Co. unveiled their secret weapon: a one-minute video parody of ... More >>

The Mavs Are Now Monitoring Players While They Sleep

The Dallas Mavericks, with the advent of in-game GPS devices that tracks a player's every twitch and movement, are already gleaning the last scraps of data available to measure on-court performance. Now it's onto the next frontier: watching players while they sleep. The term of art that's been coin ... More >>

Pouring One Out for Beta

The New Dallas Cowboys Theme Song was Written and Performed by Dorrough

Dallas' own Dorrough has officially put his mark on the city in creating the new Dallas Cowboys theme song. The track, "Our Time," will be the official walk out music and promotional audio for America's team. Stadium DJs played the song during last week's game against the Denver Broncos, but it will ... More >>

Here's the Superman-Inspired Video the Mavs Produced to Woo Dwight Howard

Over the weekend, Mark Cuban posted a long and extremely detailed open letter explaining what's happened to the club over the past three seasons: how 2011's championship squad came together; the reasons it was subsequently picked apart (basically, the the players were too old); why the Mavs have whi ... More >>

The Mavs Whiffed on Dwight Howard, Which Mark Cuban Now Says is a Good Thing

When center Dwight Howard spurned the Mavericks and decided to take his talents to the Bayou City, it marked the second straight year the team had epically flamed out in free agency. And, for the second straight year, Mark Cuban is trying to rewrite history. "I think we've put ourselves in a spot w ... More >>

Mavs Fans Really Outdid Themselves with Their Uniform Designs

In the 72 hours since he announced that he was crowd-sourcing designs for the Mavericks' new uniforms, Mark Cuban has been swamped with quality submissions. See also Mark Cuban Wants You to Design the Mavericks' New Uniforms. For Free. Take this suggestion posted to Cuban's blog:

Mark Cuban Wants You to Design the Mavericks' New Uniforms. For Free.

The last time the Mavericks overhauled their uniforms it was 2001, and Dirk was still a scrawny, clean-cut German import flanked by Steve Nash and Michael Finley. The previous design was two decades old and carried the reek of futility of the early '90s. There have been a few minor tweaks since the ... More >>

R.I.P. Dirk's Beard, Which He Shaved After Sunday's Win Over New Orleans [VIDEO]

The Mavericks easily dismantled the lowly Hornets yesterday, a decidedly unimpressive feat given the quality of the opponent and the fact that the Mavs are now officially out of the playoff hunt. Still, this was perhaps the biggest victory of the season, because it brings the Mavs' record to .500, ... More >>

Heavily Bearded Mavs Are Bringing a Barber to Tonight's Pacers Game

Improbably, the Mavericks have managed to claw their way back into the playoff hunt after a season-long funk. With 11 games to go, they are a game-and-a-half out of the final Western Conference playoff slot, currently occupied by the Lakers, and have been gaining fast, winning nine of their last 12. ... More >>

The Mavs Rule in Every Language

Mark Cuban Reminds Suffering Mavs Fans: Basketball's About More than Winning

It's a painful year to be a Mavericks fan. Two years removed from winning the NBA championship, the team's a disappointing 22-29, with its playoff chances dimming with each passing game. Some might blame Mark Cuban, who dragged the team from the NBA' cellar to its apex before dismantling it followi ... More >>

Delonte West Could Be Headed Back to Dallas

It was a dark day in Dallas on October 29, when the Mavericks unceremoniously waived Delonte West just a day before the season opener. He was a solid player who held his own on both sides of the ball. He was also one of the few professional athletes whose public comments aren't limited to canned, in ... More >>

Nuts Will Be Cracked

Lebron James Will Honor Jerry Brown, Who Died After a Party at a Dallas Night Club, with a Party at a Dallas Night Club

Jerry Brown Jr.'s life was cut short almost two weeks ago when the Mercedes driven by Josh Brent, his best friend and Cowboys teammate, veered off the highway near the former site of Texas Stadium. The two had just come from Privae, a members-only night club, where the 320-pound nose tackle drank en ... More >>

The Mavs Are Now the NBA's Fourth Most Valuable Team, But They're Still Losing Money

In spite of all the off-season turmoil, in spite of the fact that Deron Williams went to Brooklyn rather than coming home, in spite of the what-might-have-been speculation about Chris Paul and Dwight Howard in green and blue, the Dallas Mavericks still came out ahead. See also: Mark Cuban Says if ... More >>

Mavs Suspend Delonte West Again. This Time It Could Be For Good.

The Mavericks' announcement today that the Mavericks have indefinitely suspended guard Delonte West isn't exactly a surprise. He never seems to make it long without a suspension of some sorts. Just last week, he was on the outs with the team for a day after a locker room tirade. But that doesn't mak ... More >>

Schoolboy Q - The Door - 6/30/12

Schoolboy Q The Door Saturday, June 30 On a night defined by sweat and hype, Schoolboy Q showed that sometimes you can be too good. Taking the stage after a litany of local artists, Q stalked the stage and effortlessly shifted gears between songs, taking control of style after style, showing exactl ... More >>

Ten Things We Learned from Last Night's Dallas ISD Forum at the Kessler Theater

In the spirit of last night's D-slash-TED-slash-SMU DISD Education Forum at the Kessler -- which asked each school board candidate one and only one randomly drawn question -- here are some rapid-fire observations from an evening that, while admirably efficient, was over not long after it started. 1 ... More >>

Basketball With a Latin Beat

Mavs vs. Memphis: A Southern Showdown

Three Ways the NBA Lockout is Making the Mavs, and the Playoffs, Impossible to Predict

The NBA's regular season is so often discarded as an insignificant enterprise, though for reasons that are largely flimsy at best; there's real value to be gleaned in that initial 82, whether about a team's overall offensive or defensive aptitude, a coach's substitution patterns, the compatibility o ... More >>

Jason Kidd is No Longer Sucking, and That's Good News for the Mavs' Playoff Hopes

It's a common NBA refrain: Following an inactive trade deadline, a team will claim that getting a relevant player back from injury is akin to making a deadline deal. It happened with the Mavericks and Rodrigue Beaubois, and this year's spin involves the eventual integration of Delonte West. There i ... More >>

C'mon Mavs, Dunk Those Lakers

Managing the Matrix: If the Mavs Aren't Careful, They'll Grind Shawn Marion into Uselessness

The Mavericks currently live in the murky cloud that makes up the bulk of the Western Conference: Their credentials are decidedly less than those of the conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder, but beyond that their prospects remain a mystery. We know now that Dallas is a good team - as evidenced b ... More >>

The 2012 Dallas Mavericks: 33 Storylines from 33 Games

A (Wait, It's Already Midseason?) Midseason Report

Top Ten Reasons Why Dallas Smells So Damn Good

GQ writer Chandler Burr couldn't quite figure out what composes Dallas' unique olfaction but went ahead and ranked it No. 10 in a world-wide list of good smelling cities yesterday. Burr suggested that our sweet aroma could be a cross-scent of live oaks and hot concrete -- well, I don't agree. Sure, ... More >>

Down and Dirty Data, or: What Do the Short Season's Stats Say About the Mavericks?

The Mavericks -- like virtually every other team during this bizarre, lockout-shortened NBA season -- are nearly impossible to pin down. A combination of odd scheduling, injury adjustments and minimal practice time seemingly puts a different Maverick team on the floor every night out; in one game th ... More >>

The Mavs May Survive This Dirk-less Stretch, Thanks to a Crappy Batch of Opponents

Sometimes all you can do is take the win and move on. The Mavs were at home Monday night against the Suns, winning 93-87 in an ugly game in front of a seemingly disinterested crowd. It was the Mavs' second straight game without Dirk Nowitzki, who is sitting out at least four games (and maybe more) ... More >>

Here Come the Suns

No, Really, Mavs Fans. It'll Be OK. We Think.

That sound you just heard? That was any and all illogically bloated expectations for the Mavericks' season hitting the ground with a thud. This isn't your typical championship defense. The Mavs made it clear in the off-season that they weren't content to merely bring back all of the components of ... More >>

The Whore's Return: Before the Rematch, A LeBron Hater Rekindles His Love of Dallas

​My relationship with Dallas before June 12, 2011, was tenuous. I got tattooed there with Dennis Rodman during the summer of 1994 and stayed for a week, but I was shit-faced the whole time. I visited for a few days during baseball's winter meetings in 2000, when A-Rod signed with the Texas Ran ... More >>

How Much Does Perot Dislike Cuban? Enough to Try to Take Away Mavs, Stars Fans' Parking.

​It's become very clear in recent days that Ross Perot Jr. isn't about to walk away from his feud with Mark Cuban. On December 2, his attorneys notified the Fifth Court of Appeals that he intends to fight Judge Craig Smith's order tossing that suit in which Perot accuses Cuban of mismanaging the D ... More >>

It’s a Weihnachten Miracle!

The Newest Mavs Won't Hurt the Balance Sheet, But How Much Will They Help on the Court?

On this season of The Shark Tank ...​Rob Mahoney runs The Two Man game, an ESPN-affiliated Mavericks blog, and occasionally writes about basketball for Unfair Park. Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson have never exactly run the Mavericks like an ordinary NBA franchise. They drafted a gangly German k ... More >>

The NBA Lockout is (Almost) Over. Here's What the Mavs Need to Do Before Christmas Day.

Editor's note: Rob Mahoney writes about the Mavericks on his ESPN-affiliated blog The Two Man Game and about basketball for The New York Times's Off the Dribble blog. Presumably his New York Times bio will henceforth note that he now writes about the Mavericks for Unfair Park. Hark: The NBA season ... More >>

In Legal One-on-One Against Ross Perot Jr., Mark Cuban Wins as Judge Tosses Case

​On May 10, 2010, Hillwood Investment Properties' Ross Perot Jr. got the bright idea to sue Mark Cuban in Dallas County District Court, hoping to prove that the "reckless and careless" Dallas Mavericks owner had put the team $200-and-some-odd million in debt and "in imminent danger of insolvency." ... More >>

Do You Miss Pro Basketball Enough to Want to Watch the Josh Howard All-Stars?

​Your World Champion Dallas Mavericks were supposed to take on the Indiana Pacers tonight at the American Airlines Center, the sixth of eight preseason games leading to November 1's regular-season opener against Chicago at the AAC. But with each passing day, it's looking more and more like the loc ... More >>

Whitt's End: 9.23.11

​Whether you've reached the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt's End: *Doomsday scenario for Monday Night Football: Quarterback Jon Kitna. Running back DeMarco Murray. Receivers Kevin Ogletree, Jesse Holley and Dwayne Harris. Center Kevin Kowalski. Left guard ... More >>

TV Ratings: Rangers Mavericks Stars < Cowboys

​I run a buffet here. Not every customer will like everything I put out, but hopefully most will find a little something to keep them coming back. I get this complaint frequently: "Why don't you write more about the Rangers? They're winning!" (Beat the Indians last night. AL West ... More >>

Last Night: Diplo at Rio Room

DiploRio RoomSeptember 1, 2011Better than: watching the movie Rio, I assume.Diplo​It was a packed house at Rio Room last night -- a fact that, initially, maybe isn't all that impressive considering the room's 300-person capacity, but one that earns some serious points on other fronts. Like, say, t ... More >>