Category: Sports

I got this from the Mavericks in an email today at 12:20pm

Art Garcia | Mavs.com
Posted: Feb. 19, 2008
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You knew it was coming. You just didn’t know how it was going to get there. Just like one of his trademark passes, the trade of Jason Kidd to the Mavericks was delivered in unexpected fashion.

The eight-time All-Star point guard returns to the franchise of his NBA birth after the seven-player deal with New Jersey was finally consummated Tuesday. After six days of twists and turns, the Mavs dealt Devin Harris, Gana Diop, Trenton Hassell, Moe Ager, Keith Van Horn, a pair of draft picks and cash to acquire Kidd, Malik Allen and Antoine Wright from New Jersey.

The Mavs re-signed Van Horn, who hasn’t played since the 2006 Finals, to make the deal work financially. To make room for Van Horn, rookie forward Nick Fazekas was waived.

The Kidd deal is the latest in a series of blockbusters that have shaken the Western Conference. The Lakers were the first to strike, acquiring Pau Gasol from Memphis. Phoenix followed suit with a high-risk, high-reward swap of Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks for Miami’s Shaquille O’Neal.

The Mavs have insisted that those deals didn’t pressure a response. The addition of Kidd fortifies the point guard position and adds a top-flight distributor to pair with Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard and Jason Terry. Kidd is expected to be in uniform when the Mavs (35-18) resume the season Wednesday at Southwest Division-leading New Orleans.

The Mavs haven’t had an All-Star caliber point guard since Steve Nash. Harris, 24, was in the midst of a career-best season (14.4 points and 5.3 assists) before injuring his left ankle in late January.

Kidd, 34, is averaging 11.3 points, 10.4 assists (third in the league) and 8.1 rebounds this season. Allen (6-10, 255) has played for four teams in his seven-year career. The Villanova product has averaged 5.9 points and 3.2 rebounds during that span. Texas A&M product Wright (6-7, 215) adds another swingman to the rotation with Hassell’s departure, and is averaging 7.3 points in 41 games this season.

Diop (7-0, 280) spent his 2 1/2 seasons with the Mavs as part of the center tandem with Erick Dampier. Hassell, a veteran shooting guard acquired during training camp from Minnesota, has played sparingly in his first season in Dallas. Ager, a second-year guard, has shuttled between the Mavs and the NBDL.

Kidd concluded his run with New Jersey by representing the Nets on the Eastern Conference team in Sunday’s All-Star Game. Besides his obvious on-court gifts, Kidd’s mental toughness and leadership are qualities coveted by the Mavs front office. He has 99 career triple-doubles, third all-time.

Kidd was drafted by the Mavs with the second overall pick in 1994. He split Rookie of the Year honors with Grant Hill, but his stay in Dallas was short. Kidd was traded to Phoenix the day after Christmas in 1996 for Michael Finley, Sam Cassell and A.C. Green. The Suns dealt him to New Jersey in the 2001 offseason. He led the Nets to the Finals in 2002 and ’03

This is big, almost as big as that moustache on Shaq’s face! What is that? I haven’t seen one of those since I last saw Biggy’s mom.

The Sun’s are taking over the last 2.5 years of Shaq’s 100 million dollar contract which was 5 years, 100 million. I don’t even know what I would do with all that money. I mean, I am sure I could find a way to spend the first 50 or so, but after that I think I would be all spent out.

Football season is over and so now it’s time to focus back on the NBA… Speaking of NBA – what is going on with the Mavericks? And just in case you haven’t gotten the memo, No, I am not a ManiAAC anymore. Wow… I never expected that to stay with me as long as it has.

This isn’t a phrase I have ever uttered – until last night. At the start of the game there was definitely some mixed emotions. The Cowboys lost to the Giants in the play-offs and so I was upset with them, however, the Patriots were trying to do something that had never been done before and that is pretty cool. To be part of something that big is pretty awesome, something that you can take with you for the rest of your life and be proud of. People say, “It’s just a game” but it isn’t, it is SO much more than that.

I had a few friends over to watch the game on the big screen. We brought in the couch and the chair from the other rooms and everyone was seated comfortably in my spacious living room. There were hot wings from hooters and quesadilla wraps from Fridays and I even made a big pan of chili for Frito pie. I also made brownies and Sprinkle’s cupcakes and all-in-all I will say it was one of the best Superbowl parties I’ve ever been to and my first Superbowl party that I have ever had.

As I was watching the game I could feel my heart pulling for the under dog, by halftime I wanted the Giants to win – no doubt. By the end of the 3rd quarter I was still hoping the Giants would win and at the end of the 4th, when Burress caught that touchdown pass I couldn’t believe it. It was inconceivable.

During the game the cameras kept panning up to older brother Manning and you could see him trying to hold himself together for most of the game. He was composed and showed little emotion, but at the end you could tell he was excited. What at the odds that two brothers would win Superbowls so closely together? Did anyone think that Eli could pull this out? I know I didn’t, but I was sure glad he did.

I wanted the Cowboys to go to the Superbowl, but since they didn’t, this was the next best thing.

Kidd is in the blue singlet. He has been wrestling since he came out of the womb. You will see him do a backflip that I taught him one day when we were wrestling… okay, I didn’t teach him that… I taught him to do a double back-flip with a spin twist, this isn’t as cool as my move, but it works.