Do Dallas Mavericks win a championship with Michael Jordan in 2002?

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he tried to sign Michael Jordan before he went to the Wizards. How would that have changed the Mavs history?

The Dallas Mavericks had an incredible run during the 2000s. Dirk Nowitzki blossomed into a legend. The cast around him changed, but the wins kept coming. From 2001 to 2011, the Mavs won 50-plus games every season. It culminated with the championship in 2011.

Mark Cuban bought the team in 2000. The Mavericks had not made the playoffs in a decade. He immediately turned things around. They made the postseason in his first full season as owner. It started a run of 12 consecutive and 15 out of 16 years in the playoffs.

Cuban attempted to change things dramatically early in his tenure as owner. He did an interview on 105.3 The Fan on May 5 where he had this to say about meeting Michael Jordan in the early 2000s.

"“The day he signed with the Washington Wizards to come back, that is right when I was buying the Mavs and David Falk said why don’t you go meet him. I went to David Falk’s office and all the papers were right there. I was trying to convince MJ not to sign them and to do something with the Mavs.”"

For context, David Falk is Jordan’s agent.

That was never going to happen. Jordan just finished a stint as part owner and president of basketball operations for the Wizards at that time. He gave up his front office role to return to the court. Jordan was 38 years old in 2001 when he first suited up to play for the Wizards.

What if he chose Dallas over Washington? Let us set the stage before diving into to determine the impact Michael Jordan would have made on the Dallas Mavericks during his final two seasons as an NBA player.

Next: Mavs in 2002