Dallas Mavericks: Kidd, Nash represent Cuban at his extremes

Former Dallas Mavericks, Jason Kidd and Steve Nash, were inducted into the Hall of Fame last week. Each of these players took uniquely similar paths through the NBA, including a polar opposite reaction with owner, Mark Cuban.

Some of the best Dallas Mavericks players in franchise history were inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame last week and it gave Mavs fans and NBA fans a chance to remember the great careers of Steve Nash and Jason Kidd. Both of these players did some great things in Dallas, but they show two different sides to Mark Cuban.

Most people like the bad news first, so let’s start with Steve Nash.

When Mark Cuban bought the team in the year 2000, he had the big three in Michael Finley, Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki. These three were young and still trying to figure things out, but they were all very capable of playing some good basketball.

Fast forward to the summer of 2004 and the Mavs have a decision to make. Steve Nash is coming off a bit of a down year, but is still an impressive point guard. His contract is up and the Mavs will have to fork out some serious cash to keep him around. Cuban gets the ultimate decision as he is the one who has to pay Nash.

Cuban decided that Nash wasn’t worth the paycheck, ultimately getting bad advice from his medical staff who said that Nash’s body wouldn’t be able to last very long with the abuse he took on any given night. This ended up being what Cuban described as the biggest mistake he ever made as the owner of the Mavs franchise.

This is not hard to believe, as Steve Nash went on to become a two-time NBA MVP, 8x All-Star, 7x All-NBA and, of course, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Now, let’s switch to the happier side of things with Jason Kidd. And if you want to talk about good things between Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks, it won’t be from his first stint in Dallas.

When the Dallas Mavericks knew they needed to make a change, they did something that many NBA fans thought they would regret. During the 2007-08 season, the Mavs decided to trade away their young star, Devin Harris, and bring in 34-year-old Jason Kidd. To add salt to the wound, Devin Harris was in his only All-Star game of his career that year.

The addition of Jason Kidd was exactly what the team needed going forward. Three years after trading for Kidd, the Mavs won their one and only NBA Championship so far and he was one of the key elements to the team and to the success throughout the playoffs.

Jason Kidd represents possibly the best move that Mark Cuban has made as the owner of the Mavs and his induction into the Hall of Fame marks another win for the Dallas Mavericks.

Jason Kidd and Steve Nash had their own unique travels throughout the NBA, but they also had similar experiences between their times in Phoenix and Dallas. Despite both being successful Mavericks, only one of these guys represents Mark Cuban at his best while the other shows Cuban maybe at his worst.

Nash and Kidd are both Hall of Famers now and there are few more deserving players that I have seen play. Congratulations to both guys and we look forward to seeing what they can do as their careers shift even more.