Shawn Marion wants to stay in Dallas
He will become a free-agent at the end of the season.
This might be the last night that Shawn Marion wears a Dallas Mavericks uniform.
Not that he’s sentimental about the situation entering the must-win Game 6 against the San Antonio Spurs.
“I’m not looking at that right now,” said Marion, whose five-year contract expires this summer. “We’ll talk about that when it’s done.”
Regardless of when it ends, Marion’s tenure with the Mavs is worth celebrating.
When he arrived in Dallas in the summer of 2009, many considered him a former star on the decline, as he was coming off brief, unsatisfying stints in Miami and Toronto following his glory days in Phoenix. “The Matrix,” a four-time All-Star whose scoring average soared as high as 21.8 points per game with the Suns one season, redefined himself as a great role player in Dallas.
Dallas doesn’t win the 2011 championship without Marion’s sensational work as a defensive stopper against a parade of superstars including Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. The fact that Marion has never been named to an All-Defensive team is met with great dismay within the Mavs organization, which lobbied for him to be Defensive Player of the Year in 2012.
The defensive versatility of Marion has been on full display again in this series, when he has defended each of the Spurs’ “Big Three” at times, opening games on point guard Tony Parker, occasionally guarding power forward Tim Duncan when Marion shifts to the 4 and spending time on wing Manu Ginobili when the Spurs’ sixth man got hot. Precious few players in NBA history could respond to such a wide variety of defensive assignments by doing a respectable job on three Hall of Famers.
“We’d love to have five Marions and put them out there and guard all of their guys,” coach Rick Carlisle said.
Marion’s scoring average dipped to 11.3 points per game over the last five seasons, well below his career norm, but he accepted that he was an offensive afterthought with the Mavs. He rarely got plays run for him, getting his points primarily off running the floor, slashing to the basket and grabbing offensive rebounds.
Not that he’s sentimental about the situation entering the must-win Game 6 against the San Antonio Spurs.
“I’m not looking at that right now,” said Marion, whose five-year contract expires this summer. “We’ll talk about that when it’s done.”
Regardless of when it ends, Marion’s tenure with the Mavs is worth celebrating.
When he arrived in Dallas in the summer of 2009, many considered him a former star on the decline, as he was coming off brief, unsatisfying stints in Miami and Toronto following his glory days in Phoenix. “The Matrix,” a four-time All-Star whose scoring average soared as high as 21.8 points per game with the Suns one season, redefined himself as a great role player in Dallas.
Dallas doesn’t win the 2011 championship without Marion’s sensational work as a defensive stopper against a parade of superstars including Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. The fact that Marion has never been named to an All-Defensive team is met with great dismay within the Mavs organization, which lobbied for him to be Defensive Player of the Year in 2012.
The defensive versatility of Marion has been on full display again in this series, when he has defended each of the Spurs’ “Big Three” at times, opening games on point guard Tony Parker, occasionally guarding power forward Tim Duncan when Marion shifts to the 4 and spending time on wing Manu Ginobili when the Spurs’ sixth man got hot. Precious few players in NBA history could respond to such a wide variety of defensive assignments by doing a respectable job on three Hall of Famers.
“We’d love to have five Marions and put them out there and guard all of their guys,” coach Rick Carlisle said.
Marion’s scoring average dipped to 11.3 points per game over the last five seasons, well below his career norm, but he accepted that he was an offensive afterthought with the Mavs. He rarely got plays run for him, getting his points primarily off running the floor, slashing to the basket and grabbing offensive rebounds.
O. Cauchi
@paxer89
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