Mark Cuban reveals key decision that turned Dallas Mavericks' season around in run to NBA Finals
The Dallas Mavericks had one of the most remarkable runs in team history last season with their trip to the NBA Finals. Though the Mavericks were bested by the Boston Celtics in five games, they achieved just their third finals appearance in their 45-year history.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made an appearance on "The Big Podcast" with Shaquille O'Neal and discussed the key move that turned Dallas' season and provided the spark for their NBA Finals run.
"I'd be lying if I said I thought we were going to run to the Finals. There's no way," Cuban said (37:15 mark).
"We were 26-23 and it was like, what really changed our season is [Jason Kidd] and us, we made the decision that [Derrick Lively] or Daniel Gafford had to be on the court at all times, so we always had a rim protector. That was the difference."
Both Daniel Gafford and Derrick Lively made immense impacts on both ends of the floor for the Dallas Mavericks. Lively averaged 8.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game in his rookie campaign, finishing third among rookies in blocks per game. Gafford averaged a career-high 2.1 blocks per game last season and carried that momentum into the postseason, averaging 1.9 blocks per game in the playoffs.
"Once we had someone that [Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving] could always throw the ball to, and we could defend and had someone guarding the rim, that just changed our destiny for last year (38:39 mark)."
Mark Cuban reveals the Dallas Mavericks almost traded for Kobe Bryant
During Cuban's interview with O'Neal, Shaq asked him why he believes Kobe Bryant doesn't get enough attention in the NBA's GOAT debate. Cuban suggested that the players around Bryant, LeBron James and Michael Jordan are more significant factors in the GOAT discussion.
Upon answering O'Neal's question, Cuban revealed the Mavericks nearly traded for the Lakers legend in 2007.
"Do you realize how close we were to trading for Kobe in 2007?" Cuban asked O'Neal (53:16 mark). "It was literally this close. I talked to Jerry Buss and worked something out with Jerry and [Mitch Kupchak] talked him out of it. Because Kobe wanted it," Cuban said.
Bryant famously requested a trade in 2007 but was never moved, remaining with the LA Lakers for the remainder of his career. Bryant went on to lead the Lakers to back-to-back championships in 2008-09 and 2009-10.