Subject: Los Angeles Lakers

• Deja Boo?

  March 9, 2007

• Crushing Climax

  January 8, 2007

• Lookin' for Space in All the Right Spaces

  October 9, 2006

• Sports News You Can Use or Peruse or, Even, Abuse

  June 7, 2006

• Miami Hot Under the Collar

  June 5, 2006

• Jersey Whirl

  June 12, 2007

• Cuban Dancing Around Kobe

  October 17, 2007

• Scattershooting ...

  October 18, 2007

• Moment of Truth

  March 18, 2008

• A Whoozie to the Whatsis?

  April 22, 2008

• Beware The Ghost Of Avery

  May 1, 2008

• Your Dallas Mavericks Were Almost Playing in Tonight’s NBA Finals

  June 5, 2008

• See, I Just Knew Dwyane Wade Wasn’t That Good

  June 11, 2008

• Man, I Used to Love James Donaldson. Seattle Is Super Lucky.

  July 23, 2008

• A Ranking You’ll Find Hard to Believe

  October 8, 2008

• Oh and Three

  November 12, 2008

• Rebound

  August 20, 1998

• NBA Finals: Lakers in 4

  So DJ Mbenga and Josh Powell will have a ring but Dirk Nowitzki won't. Yeah, that seems fair.The only drama: When his Orlando Magic are dismantled by the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, will Dwight Howard shake hands or pull a LeBrat James? We all wanted Kobe vs. LeBron. Instead, starting with tonight's Game 1, we got ourselves a sweep. It's a nice story that the Magic and coach Ron Jeremy Stan Van Gundy beat the Celtics and LeBrons to win the East with a beast in the middle an

  June 4, 2009

• Your Dallas Mavericks are the Second-Best Team in the NBA ... Sorta

  Lotsa triumphs. Zero trophies.While twiddling my thumbs waiting for the Mavericks - or anyone - to make a significant, deadline-beating NBA trade, I wondered just how good Dallas has been this millenium. Calculator 10 minutes elbow grease = Yahtzee! Answer: Damn good. Second-best good. From the beginning of owner Mark Cuban's reign at the start of the 2000 season through last week's All-Star break, the Mavs have won more regular-season games than every team except - you gues

  February 19, 2009

• Mavs or Stars: Who Has a Better Chance of Making Noise?

  These guys used to battle for a spot in the NBA Finals. Now? Just the 8th seed.The Dallas Mavericks can clinch a playoff spot tonight. Plain and simple. Leading the Suns by a full four games in the race for 8th in the NBA's Western Conference, if the Mavs win in Phoenix tonight they'll own a considerable - insurmountable? - gap heading into the season's final 18 games. Of course, it won't be easy. Nothing this season - for the Mavs or your Dallas Stars - has been easy. The Stars are curre

  March 10, 2009

• Dear Cynical Mavericks Fans: Ya Nevuh Know.

  Danny Bollinger What if he stays hot for four months? Could happen.Look, I can be as jaded as anyone. Cynical. Smartassy. Surly. Down right skeptical. Especially - in case you haven't been paying attention - when it comes to the Dallas Mavericks. But tonight's last night's 93-89 victory in Portland, on the heels of Tuesday's victory in Phoenix, should serve as a reminder that we should at least try to enjoy the foreplay - even if it doesn't result in climactic intercourse. Okay? The

  March 12, 2009

• The Maddening Mavericks

  Danny Bollinger The forgotten one?I give up. I admit, I expected the Dallas Mavericks to lose at Phoenix, lose at Portland, beat Golden State and get blown out by the Lakers. I went 0-4. In typically unpredictable, unsettling fashion, they went 2-2. I'll go on Channel 52 tonight at 6:30 - fingers crossed - and fake like I can accurately dissect these Mavs. But who am I kidding? I can't know them if they don't know their own identity. Are they a championship caliber team? A talented

  March 16, 2009

• Don't Rush Josh

  Sad - and surprising - that your Dallas Mavericks are reduced to trying to hold on to 8th place in the Western Conference over their final nine games over two weeks. But with that gut-gouging home loss to the Denver Nuggets last Friday night, I think they fumbled away any realistic chance of moving up to 7th or better. Assuming they won't go 9-0 - starting tonight at Minnesota - the Mavs are all but locked in to face ... duhn-Duhn-DUHN ... the Los Angeles Lakers. You're right, they'll have

  March 31, 2009

• How the Dallas Mavericks Can Avoid the Lakers

  Not saying Dirk and the Mavs are sitting pretty. But they have a chance.About a month ago in this cover story Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told me his team didn't fear a first-round NBA Playoff matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers. "The Lakers don't intimidate us at all," Cuban maintains. "In the West it's going to come down to whoever stays the healthiest and gets hot at the right time." If it's all the same to him, the rest of us would like to avoid Kobe Bryant at all cost. Ri

  April 1, 2009

• Sheepish Mavericks 96, Shitty Timberwolves 94

  Because the Mavs beat one of the worst teams in the NBA, they may get to avoid playing the best. Embarrassing that the Dallas Mavericks had to pull a leftover Easter rabbit out of their hat last night against the Minnesota Timberwolves at American Airlines Center. But in this economy ... sorry, in this Western Conference playoff race, a two-point escape beats the hell out of laying an inexplicable, rotten egg. The Mavericks actually trailed by seven points in the fourth quarter against a

  April 14, 2009

• The Dallas Mavericks Go for Broke, But Where Is it Getting Them?

  March 5, 2009

• Fan-Tastically Fickle

  November 6, 2008

• R.I.P. Reunion

  Good riddance to a bad arena that provided only mediocre moments

  June 26, 2008

• Relax Mavs Fans, Dallas' First-Round Loss Won't Be to the Lakers

  The Mavs have successfully avoided the noid, better known as Kobe Bryant.While you were sleeping, the Dallas Mavericks officially succeeded in their lil' game of Avoid The Noid. Thanks to the Lakers' blowout of the Utah Jazz late last night, the Mavs won't open this weekend's NBA Playoffs as a no-way-in-hell-8th-seeded-underdog against Los Angeles. Not exactly how I planned it, but the Mavericks did indeed pass the Jazz for the Western Conference's 7th seed. In fact, there

  April 15, 2009

• Mavericks Don't Need Jason Kidd

  No joke, the Mavericks should pass on a major trade and allow this nucleus one more shot

  February 7, 2008

• Can the Mavs Draft Their Way Back Into Contention?

  Danny Bollinger After him, Dallas' draft history this decade gets really bad really quick.As we prepare to watch the Lakers turn the Thuggets (L.A. in 7) into mere mortals in the Western Conference Finals, let's ponder what the Mavs can do to get back into the NBA's final four. *Re-sign Jason Kidd? *A sign-and-trade with Kidd? *Trade Erick Dampier and Jerry Stackhouse to the Suns for Shaquille O'Neal? *Use their mid-level exception on a summer free-agent crop highlighted by Ron Artest, L

  May 19, 2009

• Ambassador Class

  Marques Haynes should be wealthy and celebrated. He was always content just to be the best.

  August 23, 2007

• Crunk Dunks

  February 1, 2007

• Oscar Oversight

  Never fear, we won't let the Academy Awards ignore sports

  March 1, 2007

• Best Rumor That Got Us All Worked Up Over Nothing

  Shaq to come to the Dallas Mavericks

  October 14, 2004

• Love Shaq

  We'll trade ya!

  June 24, 2004

• Take a Jump at the Lakers

  Kobe Bryant does his dunk and cover

  December 4, 2003

• Big D

  Raja Bell plays defense like most of his Mav teammates play offense

  February 6, 2003

• The Defense Rests

  Can the Mavs guard anyone? To find out, John Gonzalez gets offensive with a drunk Don, a focused Finley and a nutty Cuban.

  November 7, 2002

• New Tricks

  Magic Johnson has gone from basketball star to business success

  October 10, 2002

• Back to the Future

  For Dirk, Don and the Mavs to compete with the Lakers, they'll have to look to an unlikely source for inspiration: the late-'80s teams of Mark Aguirre and Dick Motta

  November 1, 2001

• Letters to the Editor

  From the week of February 15

  February 15, 2001

• Hope and Glory

  Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has reason to shout-his money and enthusiasm are resurrecting a dead team

  November 9, 2000

• Whitt's End: 5.22.09

  Whether you're at the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt's End: *You'll have to savor this offering like a cow with its cud, because this morning I'm headed out to the Byron Nelson to chug margaritas and chase girls in The Pavilion watch golf and conduct research for next week's column in the Observer's print product. Allow me an excused absence? *First it was Bill Parcells. Now it appears Tony Romo's going to avoid referring to Terrell Owens by name. And

  May 22, 2009

• D.J. Mbenga 1, Dirk Nowitzki 0

  Watching the Lakers party in Orlando last night - I was wrong about L.A. in 4, but just barely -was a reminder how cruel sports can be. While former Mavericks D.J. Mbenga and Josh Powell hugged and kissed the NBA's Larry O'Brien championship trophy, current Maverick Dirk Nowitzki is left with remorse about hugging and kissing Cristal Taylor. Though they played in the NBA Finals only three summers ago, in a way the Mavs have never felt farther from a title. They were overmatch

  June 15, 2009

• Dallas Mavericks 2009-10 Schedule

  ​Shawn Marion. Drew Gooden. Roddy Beaubois. Quinton Ross. Count ABC among the non-believers in your new-and-maybe-sorta-somehwhat improved Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs' schedule for next season has them appearing nine times on ESPN, seven times on NBATV, four times on TNT and, um, zero times on ABC's Sunday afternoon showcase. Last year they played the de facto game of the week five times. Dallas begins its 30th season Oct. 27 at American Airlines Center against the Washington Wizards.

  August 5, 2009

• Mavs Sweep L.A. Raise Your Hand If You Saw This One Coming.

  Maybe the sweet new baby blues are lucky?​After attending last Tuesday's sluggish opener at American Airlines Center, I didn't exactly think the Dallas Mavericks were a hideous outfit that would miss the playoffs. But I certainly didn't see them beating the Los Angeles Lakers. Maybe: 1) The Washington Wizards don't suck. 2) The Mavs don't either. Hung out Sunday afternoon at a party that included Mavs' radio voice Chuck Cooperstein. Fresh back from L.A. where the Mavs completed an unpre

  November 2, 2009

• Drowned Out By Grandiose Doings in Arlington, the Dallas Mavericks Begin What Should Be a Loud, Proud Season

  November 6, 2009

• Spurs? What Spurs?

  November 6, 2009

• R.I.P, Reunion Arena: My Eulogy (Extended Remix Version).

  I officially grew old yesterday afternoon. Once you've seen the rise and fall of a sports stadium, you've officially, um, been around the block. I remember a kinder, gentler era in Dallas when as a little punk I'd peer out the family Fury along I-35 and gaze in wonderment at The Sportatorium, P.C. Cobb Stadium and a futuristic construction site dedicated to a dazzling new structure to be called Reunion Arena. The Sportatorium is a vacant, dreary lot. Cobb is the InfoMart. And, after

  November 18, 2009