NBA's 72 "Greatest" Moments: Brian Cardinal's Journey to the Mountaintop
This qualifies as one of the 72 “Greatest” Moments in NBA History
The 2010-11 Dallas Mavericks unexpectedly vindicated the careers of many NBA greats. Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Peja Stojakovic, and Jason Terry were just some of the veterans who finally got a ring that season.
But no one was more vindicated than Dallas’s sweet shooting, tall white forward who had struggled for over a decade to silence his critics. Doesn’t rebound enough. Slow on defense. Not a great passer.
Well, you know what? Screw all that.
Brian Cardinal silenced the haters when the Mavericks won the 2011 championship.
The 2010-11 season was Cardinal’s 11th year in the NBA, but he had a rough go pretty much the whole way. He played just a combined 28 games for the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards in his first three seasons. He averaged a mere 1.9 points per game on 35% FG and 23% 3P.
Cardinal’s big break came in the 2003-04 season when he got a one-year minimum deal with the Golden State Warriors. The thin roster gave Cardinal ample playing time: 76 games (11 of them starts) and 21.5 minutes a night. He responded with a legitimately good season.
The best of his career in fact.
9.6 PPG
4.2 RPG
.472 FG%
.444 3P%
.878 FT%
And on February 11 of 2004, he looped in a career-high 32 points on 10-14 FGAs, 2-2 3PAs, and 10-11 FTAs to cap a year that he led the NBA in TS% (.626).
The Custodian took America by storm and the Memphis Grizzlies were ready, willing, and able to give him the bag. A bag worth $38 million over six years.
Cardinal didn’t live up to the money. Over the six-year contract Cardinal played an average of 42 games a year. And got just 15 minutes of playing time in those games. The main culprit in all this was an arthritic knee that required two surgeries and copious maintenance. The poor Janitor just couldn’t hold up for any significant amount of playing time.
A trade to Minnesota prior to the 2008-09 season didn’t do much to change his career trajectory. In fact things looked pretty damn bleak at this point.
His 3P% had generally been in the .400 range with Memphis. Then in his final Grizz season (2008), his percentage cratered to .309. With the Timberwolves, the power forward still couldn’t find his stroke: .326 in 2009 and .333 in 2010.
Clarence Carter looks on aghast.
Once more a free agent in the fall of 2010, the 33-year old Cardinal got a modest deal with the Mavericks ($1.35 million a year) after barely making the roster. Coach Rick Carlisle explained why Dallas wanted Cardinal around despite his age and scanty court time.
“Cardinal’s a good all-around basketball player, can play good defense, and he can make open shots,” Carlisle said.
— Fort Worth Star-Telegram, October 25, 2010
Earlier in training camp and the preseason, Cardinal was aware he had to bust his ass for perhaps the final opportunity to keep alive his NBA career.
Back to the Star-Telegram, but from October 4, 2010:
As several Mavericks described it, he’s sort of like Eduardo Najera with a jump shot.
“I just try to play the right way — play hard, play good defense and try to make up for the fact that I’m not the tallest guy out there or the quickest or most athletic,” Cardinal said Sunday after the Mavericks’ final training-camp practice at SMU. “I think that’s what has kept me around the league for the last 10 years — trying to be a good guy and a good teammate and somebody that will take a charge, dive for loose balls, set a back screen and do things that some guys might not like to do.”
[…]
“It’s awesome to be around these guys,” Cardinal said. “I was talking to my father before I came here to camp and he was reading some articles online. People here in Dallas are talking about a 50-win season and going deep in the playoffs and trying to win a championship.”
The “people” were right to expect much. The Mavericks did pretty well for themselves getting off to a 24-5 start that year and finished 57-25. Clearly that was all thanks to Cardinal. Well, maybe new addition Tyson Chandler helped too.
Anyhoo, the Custodian didn’t just give that cliched big white guy hustle grit, he was one of the early adopters of “camp your big slow ass at the three-point line to space the offense”.
The numbers are startling.
Cardinal played 11.0 minutes a night in 56 games that 2010-11 season. With scorers far more adept than him on the team, Cardinal took just 1.8 FGAs per game. This is where the craziness comes in… 1.6 of those 1.8 FGAs were three-pointers. The man took a grand total of 13 two-pointers that season and only made one of them! An 8% shooter from two!
Meanwhile he took 87 threes and made 42 of them (.483).
According to basketball-reference.com the Mavericks had an offensive rating of 126 and a defensive rating of 106 when Cardinal roamed (or stood) on the court. He had a .132 WS/48 and 0.5 VORP. Not bad for a dude who had struggledwith his bad knee for years.
But any old stiff can show out during the regular season with 48% shooting from three-point range. Could Cardinal pull the Mavs up during the postseason?
Absolutely. What kind of dumb ass question was that? I’m sorry I asked.
In the Western Conference playoffs, Cardinal shot a perfect 100% from downtown.
(yes, he played a grand total of six minutes across four games in three playoff series, but making that one three in the 36-point blowout to sweep the Los Angeles Lakers is hilarious. A truly great NBA game.)
In the NBA Finals versus Miami, Cardinal kept on shining like a bald white scalp under bright lights…
Don’t believe me? Look at Cardinal’s playing time and how Dallas’s play improved as his minutes went up.
Game 1: 0 minutes, eight-point loss
Game 2: 1 minute, two-point win
Game 3: 7 seconds, two-point loss
Game 4: 7 minutes, three-point win
Game 5: 10 minutes, nine-point win
Game 6: 12 minutes, 10-point win
Cardinal also shot 67% from three-point range in the series as he buried LeBron James & Co.
By the time Dallas got that sweet championship, Cardinal was 34 and had accomplished all a man could do in the NBA. The next season (2011-12) would be his final and his shooting came crashing down (just .204 from three-point range).
Doesn’t matter, though.
The Custodian gets to shine a big ole NBA title ring whenever he wants.