Many Mavericks Brought Us to This Point

With the Mavericks in Miami to start the NBA Finals, it’s clear that this is the best team that Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson have ever put around Dirk Nowitzki. Lord knows they’ve tried plenty of other combinations. Remember the deadline deal for Nick Van Exel and Raef Lafrentz that was supposed to put Dallas over the top? Hard to believe that was nine years ago.

Recalling that deal, and the way it prompted me to hang outside American Airlines Center during Van Exel’s and Lafrentz’s first game as Mavs until a scalper agreed to let me in for $10 at halftime, I got to wondering how many teammates Dirk has had in his 13 seasons as a Maverick. Shawn Bradley, Antoine Rigaudeau, Keith Van Horn — Jesus, the list of big white stiffs may reach 50. Could the total list top more than 100?

Thanks to basketballreference.com, I was able to tabulate an exact total: 109. Is that a lot? That’s hard to say, because there aren’t many modern players to whom you can compare him.

Paul Pierce is the only other member of the 1998 draft class who has spent 13 seasons with one team. According to the same website, Pierce has had 105 Celtic teammates — including 13 who have played here with Dirk. Tim Duncan was drafted one year earlier by San Antonio, and he had 102 teammates through his first 13 seasons with the Spurs.

So, Dirk’s teammate total isn’t that far off from those of his fellow future Hall of Famers. Think about that as you stroll down memory lane, perusing this list of every Maverick since 1998.