On Tuesday night, we got a little taste of what Cuban's Mavericks will do to stay in the spotlight as they concocted an attention grab that was half-baked in the act of honoring retiring Dallas Cowboy quarterback (and soon to be lead National Football League color analyst on CBS) Tony Romo.
Although multiple reports state Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, wanted Romo to get some playing time in the game itself, National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver shot down the idea.
The Mavericks never signed him to a formal contract, so Romo couldn't actually play in the game against the Denver Nuggets, but he did everything else. He acknowledged before the game that he talked to Commissioner Adam Silver about signing Romo to an actual contract, one that would have permitted him to enter the game presumably in the final seconds. "And that's not really what this is about".
The sellout crowd at the Mavericks' game against the Denver Nuggets - a battle of two teams eliminated from National Basketball Association playoff contention - was delighted to have a chance to cheer Romo.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone said he initially was "a little surprised" the Mavericks were making Romo, who will dress in uniform and sit on the bench with the team, a part of the game.
"I feel like they're all 7 feet tall", Romo said after participating in the morning shootaround.
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Towards the end of Game 1 Lundqvist had a few words with the officials about Montreal forwards being all over him in the crease. Crosby scored the game's first goal and then assisted on goals by Jake Guentzel in the second and Evgeni Malkin in the third.
"Obviously we knew we couldn't check him in", said Nowitzki, who helped hatch the plan to honor Romo. "Standing here today, I feel a little embarrassed to be honest in the sense that you're lucky enough to be in position, that someone cares enough to do something to honor you". "And a lot of people were like, 'Man, you're insane for saying that, ' but Tony could shoot". He does a lot of great things in the pocket. "The Cowboys obviously have been my life for 14 years".
So Romo's Mavericks career ended the same way as his Cowboys career, with him on the bench watching his team lose.
But watching Romo and especially listening to what he had to say, one thing was pretty clear.
"We wanted to see if he would be willing to do this, and happy he was enthusiastically accepting". He wasn't expected to get into the game, but there was a sliver of hope that Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had a trick up his sleeve. "He didn't get to leave the field the way he would of liked", Cuban said. But the Timberwolves again struggled to get stops down the stretch and Wiggins missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer as they lost their fifth straight game. A long line of media members followed Romo off the court, then filled the room where Carlisle does his game-day interviews for Romo's only chat with reporters. You can put everything into it and sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.
The Mavericks (32-49) end their regular season on Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
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