There were very few people in Dallas who could’ve been happier than Jason Terry was at the sight of an NBA championship. He’s been a Mav now for seven seasons, seven long seasons where Dallas was forever good but never quite dominant, never quite championship-level. They finally did it last spring as Terry shot 44 percent from deep in the playoffs and might’ve been the difference after he started giving Miami buckets later in the Finals.
Earlier this offseason, I caught up with Terry at Reebok Headquarters out in Canton, Mass. to talk basketball. Even though he admitted his hometown parade would never reach Dirk status, you could tell he was still on a high. Terry spoke about what it takes to go from good to great – check out the Rudy Gay feature in Dime #66 to hear his thoughts – and also what it’s like to coach his daughter.
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Dime: What’s your favorite Reebok sneaker?
Jason Terry: My favorite Reebok? Probably the Sharks. First of all, it was the first time in my career that I had my own shoe in the store. The JET Zig Sharks were my personal shoe. They were in Foot Locker, sold out in two days. So that’s just an unbelievable feeling for me, but as far as on-court performance, the ones that were on the Sports Illustrated cover after we beat the Lakers, those were my favorites. And those are actually the ones I wore in the Finals and we ended up winning so…
Dime: Now they were telling me on the ride over that you are more proud of your daughter’s AAU national championship than you are of your own title. Talk about what it’s like to coach.
JT: It’s an unreal feeling just because I play the game and I know how hard you have to work to go out there and execute a game plan and play at a high level. But to actually take myself out of the game and then teach some kids how to do the same thing that I’m doing out there and them actually learn something and you can see it, the progression, that’s an unreal feeling.
Dime: I remember talking to you and Rudy Gay at the Call of Duty event earlier this summer and I asked you about the championship aftermath. You said you were just coming down off the high of it all. What’s it feel like now a few months later?
JT: It’s still a great feeling. Everywhere we go, any city it doesn’t matter, any airport, you just get that congratulatory “Man, great job! You deserve it” or “Man, that was a Hell of a series” or anything like that. And these are fans that are probably not Maverick fans, and that’s probably the most joy that I get out of it, knowing that the whole entire world saw us do what we did and they respected it.
Dime: There aren’t too many players in this league that have been able to stay in one place like you have in Dallas. After nearly a decade, you now have a history there. How has that happened?
JT: Well, once I was traded to Dallas, I already said to myself that being in a winning organization, I want to retire there. When I looked up in the rafters and saw Brad Davis and Rolando Blackman I said one day hopefully my jersey will hang right there with them. Being in one place for so long, the city just grows on you so it’s like a second home for me. I’m going to make my home there when I retire and my family is good there. I’m great in the community. It’s just an unreal feeling.
Then you have an owner like Mark Cuban. Playing for him, he makes it so easy because it’s a family-oriented organization and they make you feel welcome.
Dime: You guys have always been a really good team and sometimes in certain years, you guys have made the jump to being a great team. That’s like the toughest step to make. What does it take to make that jump?
JT: Well one, you have to have the personnel. Two, everybody on your team including the coaching staff and the front office people have to buy in to what you’re selling. And once you have that belief in each other and the system that you’re playing in, then you can beat anybody. Because all of us at the NBA level are talented. Every team has 15 players. They wouldn’t be in the NBA if they couldn’t play. So it’s just coming together, being a team, being a unit. I think out of all the things while I’ve been on the Mavericks, we’ve had probably, in seven years, seven good teams.
Dime: There was a lot of talk made of you and LeBron in the Finals. Were you planning to challenge yourself like that or was it already in your mind that he couldn’t shut you down the whole series?
JT: Again, it really didn’t matter who it was in those Miami Heat uniforms. But from what happened in ’05-06, we just weren’t going to be denied. I was happy. I was happy LeBron stepped up and said, “I’m going to shut this kid down. That’s what they need me to do.” But I stepped up to the challenge. Again, my team needed me to come through and perform. Dirk challenged me. Tyson Chandler. Jason Kidd. The guys that I depended on all season, they were depending on me. I just did what I was supposed to do. Again, getting there the first time is what really set us up to get there again and to know that hey, it don’t happen. You might not get another shot, and knowing that this was our only shot – maybe – we had to take advantage of it.
Do you think Terry and Dallas will have a letdown this season after winning the championship?
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