Y13 [EN]: Chapter 198

2011-2012 Regular Season

After a long lull, the American Airlines Center, home of the Dallas Mavericks, was buzzing with a lively training session. Despite a tough 10-point loss against Minnesota on New Year’s Day, they rebounded by hosting Oklahoma City and securing a dominant 103-84 victory, reversing the somber mood.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were proving to be an even more potent duo than the year before, each exploding for 25 and 17 points, respectively. However, James Harden, who was frequently matched up against Youngjae, was held to just 13 points with a shooting percentage of 4/11.

More encouragingly, Youngjae’s performance remained consistently strong, with the exception of the Minnesota game. Last year, as a rookie, 15 points from him was considered a decent contribution. This season, however, he had become a key player, consistently raising expectations to around 20+ points whenever he stepped onto the court.

Additionally, Dirk Nowitzki exceeded a 50% field goal percentage in a single game for the first time this season, boasting a 10/16 shooting record and scoring 27 points. Unlike last year, Shawn Marion actively participated in scoring, even occasionally succeeding with three-pointers, adding 17 points and naturally boosting the team’s morale.

“Run harder! The next game is against the Phoenix Suns!”

“Focus more on fast-break defense! Nash isn’t an easy opponent!”

Coach Carlisle silently observed the training, while assistant coach Terry Stotts passionately instructed the players, concluding the intense training session. As the training ended, the players, drenched in sweat, took off their shirts and slumped down. Coach Carlisle expressed his appreciation to the players.

“We’ll end the morning training now. Normally, we’d shower and head for a meal, but owner Mark Cuban has asked us to wait; he has something to share.”

Although they wanted to quickly wash away the sticky sweat, a summons from owner Mark Cuban took precedence. Coach Carlisle had the players and coaches wait, and the players began to chat, wiping off the less sweaty parts of their bodies.

“What’s going on? We already received New Year’s gifts, didn’t we?”

Chandler, as usual, initiated the conversation, and the players shrugged, indicating they didn’t know either.

“What was your New Year’s gift? Was it all the same?”

Terry subtly inquired, curious about the other players’ gifts, and Chandler nonchalantly replied, “I got two free hotel vouchers.”

“A travel voucher?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t go on a proper honeymoon after the wedding. But with the shortened season, there’s no time. So… I guess I’ll just spend a nice day at the hotel with my darling.”

Terry responded lukewarmly, as if it were uninteresting, and asked the other players as well.

“I got two VIP tickets to an orchestra performance and two tickets to a Texas Rangers game.”

Nowitzki, with a penchant for trumpets, classical music, and baseball, still wore a pleased smile, recalling the New Year’s gift that perfectly catered to his tastes. As Terry listened to each player’s gift, he nodded, thinking that Cuban had surprisingly shown good sense this time.

“But, really, what’s going on?”

At Brewer’s words, Barea pondered for a moment before exclaiming, “Ah!” Something suddenly came to mind.

“Isn’t it about the championship rings? We haven’t received them yet, even though the season has started.”

“Really? Yeah! That could be it! Maybe we’re receiving the championship rings after the new year because the season started late? But when do we usually receive the championship rings?”

Chandler asked out of genuine curiosity, but no one could answer his question, only offering awkward smiles.

“Ah… No one’s ever received one?”

Chandler chuckled awkwardly, and Youngjae scolded him, seeing Chandler’s reaction.

“Chandler, it’s the same for you, so why are you asking such a thing?”

“Ugh, hey. I may not have received one myself, but I’ve seen the opposing team’s ceremony, okay? Usually, it’s during or right after the season opener. So, I thought it was about time for us too, so I asked.”

“Well, that’s true. Chandler has played for several seasons, so he might have seen something like that.”

At Chandler’s defense, Barea and Brewer nodded in agreement.

“Phew! Amazing. As expected, our team’s training is manly!”

Cuban, wittily commenting on the sweaty smell, pinched his nose and made a playful face, and the players laughed and took their seats.

“What’s going on? Are you buying us dinner or something?”

Terry gestured as if he were hungry, and Cuban said, “Ah~ Unfortunately, that’s not it. You’ll have to take care of your own meals!” and got straight to the point.

“Actually, you all know the tradition of the NBA championship team visiting the White House. The date has been set, and I thought I should let you know, as well as the date for the ring ceremony.”

A visit to the White House. The players exclaimed, “Oh!” and their eyes sparkled like middle and high school students. Cuban, expecting such a reaction, smiled contentedly and continued his story.

“The White House visit is on January 9th. Originally, we usually visit while we’re on a road trip to Washington or nearby, but it seems like the damn league office wants to screw us over. Maybe they’re trying to prevent us from winning two consecutive championships for the sake of excitement. There are no Washington road games at all this season? I’m really fed up with those blockheads.”

As Cuban said, the White House and the league office usually coordinated to set a suitable schedule, but this season, perhaps due to the shortened season, the league office’s response was not smooth. Having to visit the White House, located in Washington, D.C., during the season, and having to fly to Washington, which wasn’t even a road game, in the middle of the tight shortened season schedule, angered Cuban. However, there was nothing he could do, so he criticized the league office’s perceived incompetence through interviews and had no choice but to ask the team’s CEO, Terdema Ussery, to prepare the White House visit separately.

“Even if I rack my brain, I can’t avoid the grueling schedule. Really… Ha! There’s no point in continuing to curse, so I’ll stop here. In the end, going to the White House and then heading to the Detroit-Boston road trip is the best option. I wanted to go before the Boston game, but the dates don’t work out. So, the problem is that we have to keep moving between Washington, Detroit, and Boston.”

Nowitzki and Terry, who were well aware of Cuban’s fiery personality, tried to lighten the mood by asking about the league office’s reaction.

“What did the league office say? Mark Cuban, the untamed owner of the Dallas Mavericks, if he says something, they usually retort, right? They’re always good at doing that.”

Cuban frowned at them as if he were fed up.

“I said this: ‘There’s no point in complaining to the league office. The league isn’t smart enough to take care of this, so I decided to do it myself. How can they be so stupid?’ And you know what they said? Some vice president of the league office said, ‘Even if there’s a Mavericks and Wizards game, we can’t guarantee that the President will be in Washington D.C. or have time. Fortunately, January 9th is available, so we worked with the Mavericks.’ Worked with the Mavericks? They were just watching from across the river with their arms crossed, and only when we took the initiative to set the schedule did they hurriedly step in and add one intermediate step.”

Cuban, as if getting angry again, recounted his interview and the NBA vice president’s interview verbatim in an agitated voice.

“They take good care of things that benefit them, but they don’t do this properly. Would they have done this if the Lakers had won?”

Kidd said with a hollow laugh. Although they didn’t explicitly show it, the players knew that the NBA league office had always implicitly favored big-market teams. As an organization that moves for profit, it was natural to have a hidden desire for the success of big-market teams. Therefore, Kidd ridiculed the league office by hypothesizing, ‘What if the LA Lakers, the biggest market team in the NBA, had won?’

However, the shocking truth didn’t end there.

“This White House visit will be at my own expense. I pushed for it myself, booked it myself, did it myself, so they’re telling me to pay for it myself too?”

…

…
The players could only make dumbfounded expressions as they looked at Cuban, who was talking as if he had no feelings anymore.

“Huh?! What’s that supposed to mean?! Are they completely looking down on you!”

As expected, the hot-tempered Terry was the first to explode, and Chandler also chimed in, grumbling. But Cuban said so coolly, ‘How much does that cost? They were being petty, so I just said I’d do it.’ Only then could the players calm down and suppress their anger.

“It’s already in the past, so let’s stop talking about the stupid league office. Oh, the ring ceremony. The preparations are almost complete, but I’d like to postpone it. The fans’ reactions and attendance haven’t been great lately. I’d like to postpone the date so that more fans come and it’s done in an enthusiastic atmosphere. What do you all think?”

Cuban was feeling the reduced enthusiasm and attendance from fans who were disappointed with the recent performance. As an enthusiastic fan himself, he didn’t want to have a monumental championship ring ceremony in a subdued atmosphere. Furthermore, from a businessman’s perspective, it was best to do it when the stands were full and when it was receiving national attention.

Usually, it was done to coincide with a home game when a player who had transferred to another team was visiting, or at the season opener, but the season opener had already passed, and the only starting-caliber player who had transferred to another team was Caron Butler, but his team, the LA Clippers, had a home game too far in the future.

With a team record of only 2 wins and 4 losses, Cuban’s deep thought was that if they improved the team’s performance a little more and then held the ring ceremony, they could ride the momentum, and the team’s atmosphere could also be smooth sailing.

“I agree. I think it’s right to recover our performance first and then have the ceremony. If we have the ceremony while showing a performance that we haven’t fully improved yet, we won’t feel good, and neither will the fans.”

Nowitzki was the first to agree. He himself was also a person full of competitive spirit. Receiving the championship ring during a losing streak reminded him of the bad memory of receiving the MVP [Most Valuable Player] trophy in a suit a few years ago.

“This is another reason why we need to improve our performance quickly. If we keep playing like this, the day we wear the championship ring will be postponed, right?”

“Honestly, it would be great if the performance like yesterday could be maintained. If we win this Phoenix game with a good performance like the Oklahoma City game, the team atmosphere will probably improve a lot.”

Terry was strongly feeling that the time had come for the team’s atmosphere to turn around, recalling the overwhelming victory against Oklahoma City the previous day.

“If possible, it would be nice to see the President with a smiling face when we go to the White House, right?”

Terry smiled, perhaps recalling his memories of visiting the White House as a member of the 1997 NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association] championship team, the Arizona Wildcats.