NBA

The Mavericks’ Season, Summed Up In One Gif Of A Swearing Mark Cuban

Typical Mark Cuban? Sure, but you can’t blame him for this – not with his Mavericks down 25 in a game they eventually lost by 16, pushing them to the brink of first-round elimination at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team they defeated to advance to the NBA Finals last year. And despite that the Mavericks made the playoffs like they always do, this season was rich with reasons for Cuban to helplessly look on and mutter a curse.

Let’s look back to last offseason – the Mavericks let key cogs like Tyson Chandler, J.J. Barea, and Caron Butler go to clear up cap room. They made one significant acquisition, though: one guy who could maybe make up for some of the losses the team suffered, give it another dimension and help it stay a contender. That player? …Lamar Odom.

From the start, this year didn’t go smoothly. The Mavs lost their first three games, and Mavs meal ticket Dirk Nowitzki struggled to find his usual form. He only averaged 15.1 points per game during January (a month in which he missed four games due to injury), and said himself he didn’t think he deserved to be an All-Star. As late as March 10, the defending champion Mavs were just 23-20.

But Dirk came around eventually, and so did the team – at least to an extent. But they could never string a huge run together, and wound up backing into the playoffs, losing their final two games – and setting up a date with the Thunder, the best young team in the league and one undoubtedly hungry for revenge after last year’s playoffs.

The Mavericks, though, competed valiantly in the first two games against the Thunder, taking the games down to the final possessions and having great chances to win each. But ultimately, they won neither.

And then came last night’s game, and now, almost-certain elimination, which, if Kevin Durant keeps hitting shots like he did last night, will come sooner rather than later. More than enough to make a man say…

But assuming the Mavs don’t put together a miracle comeback, this offseason is set to be about adding players, not subtracting them. One player available: Deron Williams. He’s one of the league’s best point guards. He grew up in Texas. He’s in his prime. Pairing him with Nowitzki could be lethal. And the Mavericks have a good shot at landing him. And after this disappointing season, if Cuban’s able to turn that trick? He might look a little more like…