Vince Carter calls out Mavericks for excuse regarding controversial play

May 24, 2022; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban walks on the court before game four of the 2022 Western Conference finals against the Golden State Warriors at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Vince Carter is not buying the Dallas Mavericks’ excuse regarding a controversial play from Wednesday’s game against the Golden State Warriors.

The Mavericks were angered after what they saw as a major error during Thursday’s game. The Mavericks believed they were getting the ball off an out of bounds play in the third quarter, but the ball was actually being given to the Warriors. Dallas’ players were all at the other end of the floor when play restarted, giving the Warriors an easy two points. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he would be filing a protest with the league over the play.

Carter was not having the Mavericks’ case. The former All-Star said on ESPN Thursday that there was one key problem with their claim that undermined the entire protest.

"Not one player is down there to take the ball out even if you think it's your ball as a Dallas Maverick."

Former player Vince Carter was not amused at the Mavs blunder against the Warriors 😅pic.twitter.com/cQJG1Pwm1L

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 23, 2023

“Even if you walk into the timeout thinking it’s your ball, you draw up a play for your team to take the ball out thinking it’s your ball,” Carter said. “If you notice, when the team walked back on the court, the ball was out in front of the Golden State Warriors’ bench. Not one player is there to take the ball out even if you think it’s your ball as a Dallas Maverick. The confusion could have been handled if your player’s down there taking the ball out and he’s like ‘Wait, it’s our ball. You said it’s our ball.’ Their five guys were on the other end of the court, so where’s the confusion?”

Carter makes a great point. Nobody disputed where the inbounds pass was coming from. If the Mavericks thought it was their ball, why were none of their players down at that end of the floor to inbound it? Perhaps the Mavericks really were just that confused, but that was definitely a failure on their part.

The Mavericks were very frustrated by how the game went. That is understandable, but this is just one of the reasons why their protest is extremely unlikely to hold up under scrutiny.