Mavericks end disappointing year with expected sale of franchise

By DENNE H. FREEMAN
AP Sports Writer

IRVING, Texas (AP) - After 14 seasons as the only owner the Dallas Mavericks ever had, Donald Carter decided he couldn't stand it any more.

The team was expected to go to a new majority owner this week, to a group headed by Ross Perot Jr., son of the former presidential candidate.

Only once did Carter's franchise get close to the NBA championship, taking the Los Angeles Lakers to seven games.

Everything seemed to conspire against Carter.

He finally thought he had hit on the perfect combination when he brought Dick Motta back and signed Jamal Mashburn, Jim Jackson and Jason Kidd.

But Mashburn got hurt, and Jackson and Kidd feuded. Also, the Mavs lost Roy Tarpley for good when he violated the NBA drug abuse policy again.

The Mavs did provide some excitement this year by setting an NBA record with 3-point shots made and attempted. The rain of 3-pointers came when the Mavs went to a smaller, three-guard lineup because of injuries to the front line.

But they went from a 36-46 record last year and tremendous promise to a 26-56 ledger this season.
"It's a shame what happened to the team this year," Jackson said. "We lost Roy, then we had some misunderstandings. Popeye Jones got hurt. We would take two steps forward and three steps back."
At one point, the Mavs lost 11 games in a row.

Now uncertainty grips the Mavericks. Motta may not be back as coach and who knows if Mashburn or Jackson will be traded.
"
I'm not sure whether I will be back next year or not," Motta said.

Kidd said he hoped Motta would be rehired by the new owners.

"The coach doesn't put the ball in the basket. What we need is a big man," Kidd said. "I hope the new owners talk to me."

Motta said it's too bad the season turned out like it did.

"We lost Mash early to injuries, and Popeye got hurt. It looked like a real season of promise, and then it turned on us," he said. "We had some petty little arguments that didn't help either."
Jackson and Kidd eventually patched up their differences, but the 1995-96 Mavericks were a team without leadership.

Kidd did become only the sixth player in NBA history to register at least 700 assists and 500 rebounds in a season. No NBA player had done that since Magic Johnson totaled 521 rebounds and 989 assists in 1990-91.

The Mavs sold out half of their 41 home games and averaged about 1,000 fans more per game during the season.

But what they saw was a step down from the 1995 season.

Before the season began Motta said, "We have to be realistic about our goals."

He was right. The Mavs were 10 games worse than they were last year.