As a Spurs fan, I have a hard time rooting for the Mavs. Mark Cuban and Company have been a thorn is the side of Spursdom. However, I was beginning to come around to the idea of rooting for the Mavericks. After all Dirk Nowitzki is one of the greats and he has really shown his class. Dirk has carried the Mavs for a very long time. He's improved his game over the years and has even started playing some defense. I said "some", take it easy now. He's a very respectable player and he probably deserves a 'chip more than any other player still going. Jason Kidd has even become a bit of a likable character. The old guy who could. I have even become a fan of Jim Carrey's twin, Rick Carlisle. He's shown he's got a sense of humor while at the same time being classy and proving he's got some coaching ability. Sound familiar? To top all of it off, I'm a Texan. I want to root for teams from Texas. I want Texas to have the best teams even if they're not they're not my favorite. It gives me more state pride, not that I needed more, but I'll take it.
So all of that said, I'm watching the end of Game 5 of the WCF preparing myself to possibly root for the Mavs and then this happened:
Jump to the 2:19 mark:
At the 2:19 mark Terry gets rebound an runs down the floor and dunks the ball as time expires.
I don't know how this has not gotten any play in the media, but WHY is Jason Terry dunking that ball?! There are no OKC players near him, the clock is running out and his team is up 4 points. This play is the definition of classlessness. I've played sports and I know how hard it is to be classy when you lose, but winning with class is not that difficult. However, it appears that "JET" has trouble realizing that class is not just being in Boys and Girls Club commercials or supporting the Wounded Warriors Project. That dunk speaks more about him than any choreographed commercial ever could.
I don't know if this will keep me from rooting for the Mavs, but when you've got players who are so willing to do things that are just clearly classless it sure doesn't make it easy. As much class as Dirk and Carlisle have shown over the last few years it's amazing that Terry can seem to make all of that for not. He should be ashamed of himself, but let's be realistic....he doesn't care and he'll probably continue this type of behavior because that's the type of guy he has proven himself to be.