Dallas – Unfortunately for H. Ross Perot Jr., the Dallas Mavericks never went to the NBA playoffs during his short span as the majority owner of the franchise.
But luckily for the son of the former U.S. presidential candidate, he kept a minority stake in the 2006 Western Conference champions and is enjoying the NBA Finals after enduring the lean years.
“I’m very excited,” Perot said. “We started on this journey for 10 years, and now it’s coming together. This basketball team is unbelievable to us.”
Perot purchased the team in 1996 from Don Carter, who owned the Mavericks for 16 years. Perot owned the Mavs from 1996-2000 before Mark Cuban convinced him to sell the team on Feb. 14, 2000, for $285 million. While the Mavericks never saw the playoffs under Perot, they have been there six consecutive seasons with Cuban as the team’s majority owner.
“We’re involved in the greatest sports event in Dallas history right now,” said Perot, the CEO of Perot Systems. “We went from the bottom to the top.”
One of the reasons Perot bought the Mavericks was to develop the real estate that surrounded the team’s arena.
His real estate company, Hillwood, has joined a venture called Victory Park next to the arena that is considered one of the country’s most significant master-planned urban developments, and has been described as the next Times Square.
Brooks gets offer from Kings
According to an NBA source, the Sacramento Kings have offered Nuggets assistant Scott Brooks an assistant position. The French Camp, Calif., native is under contract through the 2006-07 season. Brooks declined comment through a Nuggets spokesperson. The former NBA guard has strong ties to new Sacramento coach Eric Musselman and his late father and former NBA coach, Bill Musselman.
Brooks played for Bill Musselman with Minnesota, with Eric an assistant and with Albany in the CBA.
Footnotes
Only once after a home team won the first two games of the NBA Finals has a series gone the maximum seven games. Last year San Antonio won twice at home but needed seven games to beat Detroit. … The previous time Miami lost consecutive playoff games by double figures was in the first round of the 2001 playoffs, when it lost three straight to the Charlotte Hornets. … Dallas center Erick Dampier grabbed a playoff-high 13 rebounds off the bench, and guard Jason Terry added a playoff career-high nine assists.
