Cuban Says Mavs Tried To Sign Post-Bulls Michael Jordan
DALLAS - In what would have been a wild twist and a different sort of "The Last Dance,'' the Dallas Mavericks tried to sign Michael Jordan after he left the Chicago Bulls.
"The day he signed with the Washington Wizards to come back, (agent) David Falk said I should go meet him,'' Mavs owner Mark Cuban says (via 105.3 The Fan's "G-Bag Nation,'') painting the picture of Jordan with a desk-full of Wizards-related paperwork before him. "I was trying to convince him to not sign with them and to (instead) do something with the Mavs.''
Jordan, maybe the greatest player in basketball history, announced his second comeback to the NBA on Sept. 25, 2001. ... so that meeting would've been less than a year into Cuban's ownership of the Mavs franchise.
Jordan had previously only played for the Chicago Bulls, where his legend was made - a legend being re-examined now in the documentary "The Last Dance.'' But he had joined the Wizards organization the year before as part-owner and president of basketball operations. His brief tenure running their front office was not successful ... but then he became a player again.
Jordan proved he could still compete with the best in the NBA at age 38 and 39. In his first season, he averaged 22.9 points in 60 games with 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.4 steals. His second and final season saw him average 20 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists. He played 37 minutes a night and appeared in all 82 games.
That era of Mavs teams featured the youthful trio of Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash and Michael Finley. Michael Jordan ... would've been helpful.
