Since circumstances (i.e., weather) brought me back from my weekend family visit a day earlier than I expected, I'm going to use the extra time to purge myself of a mountain of bad karma I accumulated in the two days following the Mavericks' unceremonious dismissal from the playoffs. I have to confess, when I found out the Mavericks lost--and in such an ugly fashion--I was positively giddy. I went onto every local website I could find just to read the comments from Mavericks fans, and bask in their moment of sorrow. After all, this was the team that shot down my Suns last year when they could no longer make miracles out of a season filled with injuries and adversity. It's human nature to revel in seeing the team that kicked your favorite team when it was down be utterly destroyed and embarrassed in a way that no one will ever forget. I'm sure I am not the only Suns fan who rejoiced when the Mavericks seemingly laid down the sword in the third quarter of Game 6, and conceded their season to the Warriors. But I was wrong to gloat, and no matter how much I want to tell myself otherwise, that's exactly what I did.

Perhaps it was spending the weekend amongst Mavericks fans that opened my eyes. I have five people in my immediate family who watched every single one of the Mavericks' 67-wins during the regular season, and were eagerly looking forward to seeing their team win 16 more for a championship. They are, as expected, completely disappointed and appalled at what happened, however, they all agree on two things:

1. Had the Mavericks faced any of the bottom four seeds besides Golden State, they would be in the second round right now, probably in a sweep or darn near close to it.
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3. Had Golden State faced any team other than the Mavericks and played the way they did, that team (even had it been the Spurs or Suns) would have suffered the same fate as the Mavericks.

I'm inclined to agree on the first point wholeheartedly, and maybe the second point too (although I do think the Suns and Spurs would have fought for it tooth and toenail until the last possession). In any case, losing to a Golden State team that hadn't made the playoffs in over a decade, or won a playoff series in over two, is maybe not as shameful as it initially seems. The Warriors laid it all on the line, and they were coached by someone who knows the Mavericks (and their star player) maybe better than they know themselves. Perhaps like Steve Nash says, it "just wasn't meant to be" for the Mavericks this year.

And speaking of what Steve said, maybe it would behoove all of us who are gleefully rejoicing in Dirk Nowitzki's utter humiliation to take a moment to remember that he is, in fact, Steve's best friend. Whatever sense of vengence we feel at Dirk's dramatic fall from grace, after he presumably took the MVP award from Steve, is not shared by Steve himself. That much is obvious from Steve's interview at practice on Friday. Clearly, he feels terrible for Dirk, and takes no joy at all in seeing his friend embarrassed. Listening to that interview (it starts a tad before the 8-minute mark) is one of those moments that remind us that behind all the money, glitz, and glamour of the NBA life are real people who have friends and people they care about just like any of us. I have to say, after listening to what Steve said, I feel a little bit embarrassed myself to have taken such pleasure in another human's misfortune.

So, does any of that "bad karma" stuff really matter to begin with? Dan asked us a week ago what we thought about jinxes. I said at the time that "I believe in karma, not jinxes". Is there really any difference in the two? Perhaps not--there is, after all, no physical evidence that either actually exists. However, consider this:

• After Mark Cuban went on a talk show last year and bragged about how his team was in the Finals while Steve Nash was sitting at home, the Mavericks promptly dropped their next four games to Miami in one of the worst choke-jobs ever in the history of sports. And after Cuban dissed Don Nelson by first running him out of town, then bad-mouthing him to the media, Nelson got to author what may be the greatest upset in NBA history at Cuban's expense.
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• After Dwayne Wade mocked Dirk Nowitzki's lack of leadership skills, he got injured and his team was swept from the playoffs in the first round.
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• After legions of Mavericks fans, the media, and the Mavericks organization itself placed the Mavericks on a pedistal, and boasted about how they were one of the greatest teams of all times, the Mavericks suffered a second consecutive year of playoff humiliation.
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• After Dirk Nowitzki sneered into the camera on December 28 as he dropped in a game-winning buzzer-beater over the Suns, his own personal choke-job on March 14 against that same Suns team resulted in one of the most heart-breaking regular  season losses of his career.
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• After making quips to the media about another team's players getting injured in 2005 and 2006, Mike D'Antoni lost one of his own starters during the playoffs each time.
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• And speaking of that, after clotheslining Kobe Bryant in the first round, Raja Bell became the Suns' playoff-ending injury victim for 2006.

Does all of this add up to proof that karma exists? I'm not sure, but it certainly makes me not want to take any chances! So, with that in mind, I hearby apologize to the Mavericks, their fans, and to Dirk in particular for being a complete jerk the past few days. And whoever out there is responsible for doling out the karma, please remember that it isn't the Suns' fault one of their fans ran afoul of all that is decent in the rules of good sportsmanship--and that we fans, after all, are only human.

Poll

Do you believe in karma?

0%

No - There's no reason to believe it exists.

0 votes

100%

Yes - Bad things seem to happen to people who do bad things to others.

5 votes

5 votes | Poll has closed