Of the 15 Mavericks on standard NBA contracts, 26.6% are products of Duke, which again is among the NCAA Tournament title favorites.
In sheer number, Blue Devil spirit reigns in the Mavericks’ locker room in the form of Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving, Marvin Bagley III and Dereck Lively II, but come Friday coach Jason Kidd, if he so chooses, could simply announce “Scoreboard.”
Friday is the anniversary of the 1993 NCAA Tournament second-round game in which 19-year-old freshman Kidd led California to an 82-77 upset of two-time reigning champion Duke in Rosemont, Ill.
“They weren’t even born,” Kidd mused of the Mavericks’ four Dukies.
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That’s not quite factually correct. Irving, who shares an upcoming March 23 birthday with Kidd, was born in 1992.
Kidd’s Mavericks (23-47) had Thursday off, but are scheduled to re-convene Friday for a rare late-season practice – and perhaps a golden-oldie YouTube flashback to March 20, 1993.
“We’ll make sure during film, we’re gonna watch some of that,” Kidd joked. “The problem is it’s so grainy that they won’t know whether that’s Duke or Cal.”
To refresh everyone’s memory, Kidd’s 11 points, 14 assists, 8 rebounds and 4 steals helped No. 6 seed Cal pull the upset of No. 3 seed Duke despite 32 points by Bobby Hurley and 18 points and 8 steals by Grant Hill.
“It’s amazing how time flies. Incredible time. This is a great month for all sports fans and alums, for their schools to cheer, to be able to upset someone, as Cal did that year against Duke. This is an incredible time.”
In the first round of the 1993 tournament, against LSU Kidd’s drive through the lane and body-contorting, banker high off the backboard with one second left gave Cal a 66-64 win.
“It was kind of a pretzel shot,” LSU coach Dale Brown said that day. “Normally those shots don’t go in. I don’t know how he did it.”
Brown hastened to add of the Bears: “I don’t think they have a prayer against Duke.”
Wrong.
Much like current-day MFFLs, early 1990s Mavericks fans followed NCAA Tournaments extra-closely, wondering which young star might get drafted by Dallas.
In 1993, the 13-win Mavericks drew the No. 4 overall pick and selected Kentucky’s Jamal Mashburn. The following year, Dallas had the No. 2 pick and selected Kidd over Hill.
That pair is conjoined in history, sharing 1994 NBA Rookie of the Year honors and getting enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in the same class, 2018.
With the 12 games left and the Mavericks again bound for May’s Draft Lottery, will Kidd make extra time to watch this year’s March Madness?
“Well, at some point we’re watching college basketball,” he said. “It’s a great time of the year. We talk about upsets or great individual performances.”
Kidd said he was hopeful of getting to root on Cal in the NCAA’s, but the 22-11 Bears fell short and are in the NIT.
As Mavericks’ tank job continues, keep an eye on these March Madness point guardsMavericks 2026 tank tracker: What are Dallas’ chances of landing No. 1 pick in NBA draft?
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