After coming back to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5, the Dallas Mavericks were happy to have closed out the series. But staying true to their workmanlike character, they refused to celebrate too heavily knowing they still have their toughest task ahead — a meeting with the Heat or Bulls in the NBA Finals.
ESPN brought out reporter Doris Burke to interview owner Mark Cuban and head coach Rick Carlisle about reaching the Finals, but when she turned to speak with Dirk Nowitzki, she realized the team’s MVP had already exited the floor. Soon after that, the party ended as all the players dispersed. Check out the ditch party:
Even though this is the second time Burke was embarrassed this week, you can’t blame her too much. She probably should have interviewed Dirk before Cuban, but players generally stick around to conduct interviews. The question I have for you is why did they do it? One suspicion I had was that Dirk Nowitzki was upset at the way Mark Cuban was going all WWE in his interview and getting carried away. After all, Dirk said the team was doing better this year because Cuban was keeping quiet, so maybe he was upset that Cuban was opening his mouth. But the overwhelming feeling is that he walked off the floor because he didn’t feel it was time to celebrate.
Dirk’s been to the NBA Finals before and lost. He’s felt the disappointment. He wants that championship. Winning the West is nice, but it’s not enough for him. It appears as if his teammates are following his lead, and that’s good. They’ll need this type of focus especially if they end up facing the Miami Heat for the title.
UPDATE: Dirk addressed what his mentality was after the game
“It’s a great moment, we can enjoy it for a day, but we got one of those trophies already and it didn’t mean anything at the end. When you get to the Finals, there is no second place finish. I was already thinking about the Finals. This is nice for a day but we said our goal in October was to win it all and we haven’t done that yet.”
