How I Became A Dallas Mavericks Fan For Remainder Of Playoffs

As many of you know at this point, I'm a huge sports fan. I rep my teams any chance I get. I wear my heart on my sleeve when it comes to them, and am unashamed when they're playing poorly.

For full transparency here, I'm a San Francisco Giants fan for MLB, San Francisco 49ers fan for NFL, San Jose Sharks fan for NHL, and a Denver Nuggets fan for NBA. Now, before we get into anything, don't call me bandwagon for any of my teams please.

I was a Giants fan LONG before they won three World Series titles. I was a Niners fan back in the days of Joe Montana, Roger Craig, Jerry Rice. I was a Sharks fan from the moment they became a franchise, and I've been a Nuggets fan since before they got Dikembe Mutombo back in the early 90s.

When it comes to the Nuggets, I sat through all the lean years. Those stretches before Carmelo Anthony turned them into a playoff team were some hard ones to watch. They were so bad they couldn't come close to filling the arena.

They would do $5 tickets for the upper level of the arena just to get people there. My friend and I took full advantage of this. So watching the Nuggets get guys like Jokic and Murray, then turn that into an NBA championship last year was beyond fulfilling.

Last night, my beloved Nuggets held a 20 point lead early in the 3rd quarter...and they blew it. Not only did they blow it, they lost the game, and the series. There will be no repeat as a champion this season.

Yeah I'm bummed about that, but that's not what I'm mad about. Let me put it this way, I'm now a die-hard Mavericks fan the rest of the way in these playoffs.

The antics pulled by the Minnesota Timberwolves last night as the game was ending were deplorable. Anthony Edwards waving goodbye to the Nuggets crowd was one thing. Sure, a little tasteless but I can deal with it.

Jaden McDaniels however, you've got another thing coming. The Nuggets had conceded. No fouling with less than 30 seconds left in the game down by 6. For all intents & purposes, it was over. McDaniels decided he wanted to attempt a little showboating action.

He decided with essentially no one around him or guarding him, he wanted to act like he was in the middle of the NBA dunk contest. He bounced the ball hard on the floor, then got into a takeoff position to catch it in the air and slam it home.

A Nuggets defender nearby quickly saw the action and closed in on him, swiping him hard to stop that from happening. I'm glad he did, he deserved the hard foul.

My thing has been, and always will be, win with class. You were on the NUGGETS home court Jaden, not yours. Congratulations on knocking off the defending champs, you played well...but you also ruined everything you and your team accomplished by one classless move.

I reiterate, I'm not salty about the Nuggets losing. They had their chance to close and they didn't. That's sports. The lack of class though by the winning team, THAT is what I'm riled up about.

So let's go Luka. Let's go Kyrie. I'm buying a Mavs hat today to proudly display for your run to the NBA Finals. I hope you do it.