I’ve said this at least twice before on this site, and I will probably say it again. My first plea is lost in one of our many CMS changes, I guess. But here is what I said last time, in 2011:
Aguirre’s case for inclusion is certainly complicated. He won two titles with Detroit after forcing his way out of town. He had a reputation for being, let’s say, mercurial during his time here. But he helped lead the team to its first Western Conference Finals appearance and, really, was a driving force in legitimizing the Mavericks, taking them from expansion status to league-elite level. He was a three-time All-Star, an offensive Swiss Army knife who could score everywhere on the court, the one thing opposing teams couldn’t really prepare for. If he was on his game, you weren’t doing much.
It remains strange to me — especially now that Derek Harper’s No. 12 is in the rafters — that one of the Mavs’ early heroes has not been honored. Even almost three decades after his last game at Reunion Arena, he’s still the team’s third-leading scorer in its history (behind Dirk Nowitzki and Rolando Blackman) and has the highest per-game career scoring average (24.6). He was the team’s first superstar, even rapping (OK, more or less) in a commercial for Converse Weapons alongside Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Aguirre was those 1980s Mavericks teams, more so than Blackman, Harper, and Brad Davis, who have all seen their numbers retired already.
It’s dumb it has taken so long. But now is actually a good time, since the team — still fun, but not always successful — could use a boost in ticket sales. OK, maybe now that Harper just got his night, it’s not perfect timing. So: pick a game early in the 2018-19 season and fix it.
COME ON, DALLAS LONE RANGER HEROES.
