More than five years after he helped the Dallas Mavericks win their only NBA title in 2011, Shawn Marion finds himself still asked how they were able to pull off that improbable upset.
The Mavs upended a superbly talented Miami Heat squad in six games which consisted of future Hall of Fame players LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. And that includes capturing the series clincher in the Heat’s own back yard.
Marion, who retired in 2015 after 16 seasons, had a simple explanation on how the Mavs defied all odds and stunned the heavily favoured Heat.
“I’m like this: ‘You put your pants on one leg at a time just like I do,’” a defiant Marion said. “There’s ways to go out there and beat guys.
“When we got to the Finals everybody was kind of caught up into being on the stage and playing names. Everybody gets caught up in playing names and not the guys. But I’m going to play a person. I’m not playing his name.”
As he reminisces to the greatest moment of his stellar career, Marion acknowledged that the Mavs wore the underdog tag proudly throughout the 2011 playoffs.
Dallas opened the playoffs by beating a roughhouse Portland team no one wanted to play in six games. They then swept the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in four games in what was Phil Jackson’s final game as a coach.
From there, the Mavs dispatched Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games in the Western Conference Finals before shocking the world while dethroning the Heat.
“I just felt like couldn’t anybody beat us,” Marion said. “We knew what we were capable of when the season started.
“We just went out and did what we were supposed to do and took care of business.”
It’s the same formula Marion noted the Cleveland Cavaliers used when they fell behind the Golden State Warriors, 3-1, in this past June’s NBA Finals, only to rally and win the series in seven games.
“Sometimes the best teams don’t always win championships,” Marion said. “(Mavs owner Mark) Cuban said hot teams win championships, great teams make it to the playoffs, but hot teams win championships.”
As Marion surveys the NBA landscape since his retirement, with the offseason acquisition of Kevin Durant, he expects the Warriors to have “a great team.” But he insists that doesn’t guarantee they’ll win next year’s NBA title.
“They have a nice team on paper, but at the same time they’ve still got to go out and get it done,” Marion said. “It’s not like everybody is going to go out there and lie down and give them the championship.
“They’re going to have to go out and win it.”
While many have heavily criticised Durant for leaving OKC for the Warriors, Marion offered an olive branch.
“At the end of the day it’s his choice, and so be it – live with it,” Marion said. “When everybody else makes decisions about trading you, you don’t have (anything) to do with it, but when all of a sudden it’s your choice to make the decision, everybody wants to get (upset) and ask you are you sure this is something that you feel that you want to do or feel like you need to do?
“Who cares? At the end of the day it’s his decision and you guys live with it. People are going to have something to say regardless of if he (left OKC) or not.”
Although Marion has retired and maintains a home in the Dallas area, he has decided to play basketball in a league for retired players. The league — the Champions Basketball League — is headed up by former Mavs All-Star forward Mark Aguirre.
“A lot of guys actually still play ball after they retire, to a certain degree,” the 38-year old Marion said. “This is for certain guys who exactly didn’t have the longevity in their careers that they wanted to and they can do this as a way for them to actually compete and create another source of income.”
Marion has no desire to pursue a career coaching in the NBA. He spends his valuable time with his two-year old son.
“Coaching is a full-time job, it’s a year-round job, a year-round commitment,” Marion said. “And it’ll be too hard for me right now with me being so much into my son.”
The quick-witted Marion added, with a laugh: “I love the game, I love watching it and I love correcting people when they think they know (everything).”
Marion, however, wouldn’t mind sharing his wealth of basketball knowledge with various youngsters.
“If I was to coach I’d probably want to do it more on the younger level than versus the NBA,” he said. “I’d like to have an effect on the younger generation and try to help them learn the game and help them the best way I can to learn the team concept of playing ball versus the eye concept of learning it.”
Nicknamed “The Matrix’ because of his unique athleticism and ability to defend all five positions, Marion was the No. 9 overall pick of the 1999 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns. The 6-7, 228-pound forward made four All-Star appearances in eight-and-a-half seasons with the Suns, and later played five years with the Mavs.
“I was probably one of the most unique and athletic players that played in a long time,” Marion said. “I was able to invent my game and change my game to who I was playing with...and it was fun doing it.
“I actually pride myself in competing, and that’s what kept me around. I was able to do it and do it very consistently, and I was able to do it for a long time.”
Marion averaged 15.2 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 1,163 career games, and also helped the United States win a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
Nowadays, when Marion picks up the phone to share a conversation with Mark Cuban, basketball isn’t uppermost on his mind.
“I talk to Mark, but I’m not talking about basketball,” Marion said. “I’m talking about business opportunities.”
Looking back on a sparkling career which could land him in the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame when he’s eligible in four years, Marion knows his grit and determination has carried him a long way.
“I was truly blessed to play the game for 16 years and I gave what I could give to it,” he said. I think I could have given more in certain areas, but at the same time I felt I walked away from the game and I left an imprint on it.”
That imprint was certainly felt in Dallas and in Phoenix.
“I love the Mavericks,” Marion said. “I bleed blue, baby.
“I bleed that (Phoenix Suns) purple and orange, too. That’s where it started at. You never forget where it started, but Dallas is home.”