The Miami Heat’s annual visit to American Airlines Center likely evoked nostalgia among Mavericks fans Monday night: Ecstatic memories of Dallas’ 2011 NBA finals triumph over Miami and not-so-fond ones of the Heat’s 2006 finals comeback over the Mavericks.
My flashbacks were of a different nature.
The sight of Miami’s Hassan Whiteside tormenting the Mavericks with 25 points and 14 rebounds in a 95-88 Heat victory was a vivid reminder of Dallas’ string of free-agent center whiffs since that 2011 title.
And the Mavericks’ ongoing big-man conundrum and potentially high 2018 draft status reminds of the colossal mistake the franchise made in 1992 -- possibly costing it a chance to draft Shaquille O’Neal -- and why it cannot afford a repeat of that fiasco this spring.