Mark Cuban has held lofty hopes for the Dallas Mavericks since Day 1. After purchasing the franchise in 2000, he instantly forged a vision that his core trio of Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, and Michael Finley would bring a title to Dallas.
In his first full season as the Mavs owner, Cuban saw massive growth within his team, carving a 53-win campaign and an appearance in the Conference Semifinals. That promising finish compelled him to continue building more for the team's foundation for contention, and his desire for the Mavericks to take the next step even led him to aggressively pursue the biggest name in basketball, Michael Jordan .
A failed pitch
Jordan surprised the entire sports world when he announced his second comeback in 2001. Three years after his stint with the Chicago Bulls ended with a second three-peat, MJ had a change of heart and abandoned retirement for the second time.
In his return to the NBA, Michael finalized his intention to join the Washington Wizards, a franchise he's been a part of already as its minority owner and president of basketball operations. Yet despite this, Cuban attempted to take his shot and tried to pursue Jordan to pick Dallas .
Mark promised the moon and stars and used any resource he could get to try to change Mr. Air's decision. But no matter how fascinating his offers have been, MJ rejected his pitch because he wanted to remain true to his vows for the D.C. franchise.
"When I did buy the Mavs, his agent David Falk called me up and said you need to meet Michael," Cuban recalled . "So I went to David's office, and there was Michael with all the paperwork to be part of the Wizards right on the table. I'm like, 'Dude, don't sign it; I'll do whatever it takes. You come, I'll give you partnership like these guys are doing, and we'll win; I'll spend whatever.'"
"He's like, 'Mark, I can't do it; I gave them my word,' so to his credit, it didn't happen. But I tried," he added.
Related: "Don't ever do that to a black man again" - Lamar Odom's honest message to Mark Cuban after getting kicked in the shin
A 'What-If' around MJ's second return
It's intriguing how things could've been if Mike backed out from his commitment with Washington and joined Cuban in Dallas.
The Mavericks continued growing and became one of the main title contenders. The Dirk-led Dallas had an average of 58 wins in the next two campaigns, highlighted by a trip to the 2002-03 Western Conference Finals, maybe if MJ was there they would get of the hump.
As for Michael, he saw a much different situation compared to his reign days in Chicago by settling towards mediocrity in the D.C. area. His sudden switch from the front office back to the hardwood couldn't save the Wizards, as they never made it to the postseason in his back-to-back seasons as a 37-win team.
Related: Michael Jordan paid respect to Reggie Miller after their final NBA meeting: "That kid has unbelievable heart"
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