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Think you know everything about the Mavs?

Think you know everything about the Mavs?
By Jon Machota
FOXSportsSouthwest.com Special Contributor
June 12, 2011

Check out photos from the Mavericks and Heat in the NBA Finals.
After 82 regular season games and 20 playoff appearances, it’s easy to feel like you know everything about this Dallas Mavericks team.

Yes, Dirk Nowitzki is from Germany and Jason Terry’s nickname is Jet.

However, there is more knowledge to gain.

There are players with fingers pointing in the wrong direction and multiple guys that were raised on farms. A pair of teammates used to play the saxophone while another preferred expressing his musical side through recording a rap song.

Do you want to know which Maverick has the craziest tattoo or his name on a sign in his hometown? It’s all here. Heck, there’s even more than one German on the team.

So, to bring you up to speed, here are five interesting facts about each player that has taken the floor this postseason. And to add a little extra flavor, we even included Mark Cuban and Rick Carlisle to the mix.

The players are listed in numerical order.

Shawn Marion, No. 0, Small Forward

-He is arguably the best dressed on the team. Marion is so detailed with his attire that he coordinates everything all the way down to his matching socks, which he calls his “sock game.”

-Nicknamed “The Matrix” for his amazing athleticism, TNT analyst Kenny Smith gave Marion the nickname during his rookie season. Marion has said in the locker room this year that he has the best nickname in the game.

-As a child, Marion grew up in a single parent home with his mother and three sisters. This summer, he is set to begin work on a reality show about his life and the women in it.

-He loves watching cartoons and his DVD collection is his most prized possession.

-His left pinkie finger is severely dislocated. Starting at his second knuckle, the digit stands more horizontal than vertical. He said it occurred when he was playing catch with a football around the age of nine. Marion has no plans to get it fixed.

Jason Kidd, No. 2, Point Guard

-At the age of 21, he recorded the rap song “What the Kidd Did.” Nowitzki has gone on record saying it's the worst song ever recorded.

-He enjoys bowling. Kidd participated in a league with Phoenix guard Vince Carter when the two were teammates in New Jersey.

-Kidd was raised in a middle-class home near the Oakland Coliseum. His family owned a few horses and he took part in the upkeep.

-His favorite movie is “A Bronx Tale” and his favorite actor is Don Cheadle.

-He chose playing soccer over basketball until the third grade. His talent on the court took significant steps around eighth grade and he never looked back. He occasionally participates in charity soccer games.

Tyson Chandler, No. 6, Center

-He spent several years of his youth on his grandfather’s farm. Chandler milked cows, rode a tractor and worked in the fields.

-Chandler stood 6-foot-4 at age 11. He was so tall that one Halloween a family refused to give him candy because they didn’t believe he was a kid.

-Entering his freshman year of high school, Chandler appeared on the television show “60 Minutes” because of his rising fame as a future basketball superstar.

-His grandmother is of German descent. Chandler occasionally jokes with Nowitzki that there are two Germans on the Mavericks.

-He enjoys painting pictures in his free time. He considers the artwork, "calming and therapy."

J.J. Barea, No. 11, Point Guard

-He is dating Miss Universe 2006, Zuleyka Rivera, who, like Barea, is a native of Puerto Rico.

-His favorite movies include “Wedding Crashers,” “The Hangover,” “Face/Off” and “The Notebook.”

-As a youth, he idolized Michael Jordan. He was able to meet Jordan a few years ago. “That was pretty cool,” Barea said. “I called my brothers and my dad right after and said, ‘I met Michael!’ They were stunned.”

-During his senior year of high school, Barea moved from Puerto Rico to Miami in hopes of attracting attention from college basketball coaches.

-Prior to the state championship game his senior year of high school, Barea came down with a severe case of mononucleosis. Despite losing 20 pounds and his doctor advising him not to play, Barea played.

Corey Brewer, No. 13, Guard/Forward

-He won back-to-back national championships as the starting small forward for the University of Florida in 2006 and 2007.

-Both of his parents are diabetics and his father has lost both legs because of the disease. Shortly after signing his rookie contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Brewer built a handicap-accessible house for his family.

-A highway sign in his hometown of Portland, Tennessee says the home of country music star Ronnie McDowell and 2007 Final Four Most Outstanding Player Corey Brewer.

-He is known for always smiling. His mother says she cannot find a picture from his childhood where he wasn’t smiling.

-As a youth, Brewer helped his father in the tobacco fields on his grandmother's farm in Tennessee.

Peja Stojakovic, No. 16, Small Forward

-He is married to Greek fashion model Aleka Kamila.

-His first name is Predrag (PRAY-drog).

-As a youth, Stojakovic idolized former NBA player Vlade Divac. The two became close friends as teammates with the Sacramento Kings.

-When he was 16, Stojakovic and his family fled to Greece after a civil war demolished their home in what is now known as Pozega, Croatia.

-Stojakovic owns two restaurants in Greece and has invested in a solar energy business there.

Ian Mahinmi, No. 28, Center

-He was born and raised in Rouen, France. His mother is from Jamaica and his father is from Benin.

-Mahinmi is comfortable with either the English (Ian) or French (Yan) pronunciation of his name. His father calls him Ian and his mother refers to him as Yan.

-His favorite movie is “Remember the Titans.”

-A significant reason Mahinmi signed with the Mavericks entering this season is because of his close friendship with reserve guard Roddy Beaubois.

-He enjoys traveling and lists Greece as being his favorite destination.

Jason Terry, No. 31, Shooting Guard

-He has a tattoo of the Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy on the inside of his right bicep. Terry will have it removed if the Mavericks fall short of winning a title this year. He also has a tattoo of his hometown area code (206) and the cartoon character Underdog.

-A graduate of the University of Arizona, Terry would like to be an assistant coach with his old college basketball team once he retires from playing in the NBA.

-Terry and his wife have four daughters. He currently coaches one of his daughter’s AAU basketball teams.

-Always known for wearing a headband, Terry sports the look because his third grade P.E. teacher, former Seattle Sonic Slick Watts, wore a headband during each of his NBA games.

-Martin Lawrence and Halle Berry are his favorite actors and Richard Pryor’s Harlem Nights is his favorite movie.

Brendan Haywood, No. 33, Center

-He played the saxophone from seventh to ninth grade and attended music camp at UNC-Greensboro.

-Haywood idolized Magic Johnson as a youth. When he learned Johnson had HIV, Haywood’s mother said he was so devastated that you would have thought someone close to him had died.

-A fan of the Miami Hurricanes football team, Haywood considered attending the University of Miami because of his love for the football program.

-He recalls a game-winning shot against the New York Knicks as being his greatest career moment because he grew up rooting for the Knicks.

-One of his favorite hobbies is reading and considers John Grisham’s “A Time to Kill” to be his favorite book.

Brian Cardinal, No. 35, Power Forward

-He is nicknamed “The Custodian” for his willingness to do the dirty work on the floor. The nickname was given to him by Detroit Pistons teammate Jerome Williams when Cardinal was a rookie.

-Because his father had been the head basketball trainer at the University of Illinois for nearly 30 years, Cardinal was a ballboy for the 1989 Illinois team that reached the NCAA Final Four.

-Despite an average of only 5.0 points per game during his 11-year career, Cardinal has made nearly $38 million as an NBA player.

-He and his wife recently purchased a farm near Indianapolis and plan to grow fruits and vegetables when his playing days are over.

-Not sure if he would make an NBA team entering this season, Cardinal talked with Purdue basketball coach Matt Painter about a possible position on his coaching staff.

Dirk Nowitzki, No. 41, Power Forward

-As a youth he was interested in tennis and handball, but turned to basketball after his opponents called him a "freak" for being so tall.

-Close friend and mentor, Holger Geschwindner, is known for teaching Nowitzki the fundamentals of the game at a young age. Geschwindner works with Nowitzki throughout the season, often times at the Mavericks practice facility. The two are occasionally the last to leave the court following a team practice.

-He is Germany's second highest paid sports star behind Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher.

-He played the saxophone for a long time, but stopped after having his teeth knocked out during a game. “I couldn't really bite on it anymore, so I quit,” he said.

-Although he doesn’t have any children, Nowitzki would like to eventually have a family. "I want to raise a family and have a couple of small Dirks running around," he said in 2009.

DeShawn Stevenson, No. 92, Guard/Forward

-After committing to play college basketball at the University of Kansas, Jayhawks coach Roy Williams called Stevenson the "most gifted recruit ever." Stevenson never played for Williams, opting to enter the 2000 NBA Draft.

-Stevenson has more than 100 tattoos, receiving his first when he was 18.

-A few of his most noticeable tattoos are on his head and neck. Stevenson has a backwards Pittsburgh Pirates logo on his right cheek and a crack that begins at his hairline and works its way down his forehead. An image of Abraham Lincoln is on his throat.

-He has verbally sparred with Miami’s LeBron James on multiple occasions. While playing in Washington, Stevenson called James "overrated" and added "I don't like him." Stevenson has continued to be critical of James, saying recently that the superstar “checked out” in the fourth quarter of Game 4.

-During his senior year of high school, Stevenson averaged 30.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game.

Rick Carlisle, Head Coach

-Carlisle went from not receiving a single Division 1 basketball scholarship offer to starting for the University of Virginia team that reached the 1984 Final Four.

-He ranks Chuck Daly, Larry Bird, and Bill Fitch as being the people with the biggest influence on his coaching career.

-He never wears his championship ring from his days playing with the Boston Celtics.

-His favorite Dallas restaurant is Tin Star.

-The first date he had with his wife, Carlisle took her to a Grateful Dead Show in Washington, D.C. and the two sat on stage.

Mark Cuban, Owner

-His first job as a youth included selling garbage bags and powdered milk.

-Cuban has appeared on television shows like "Entourage," "The Simpsons," "Dancing with the Stars" and " Walker, Texas Ranger."

-He made headlines in 2009 for getting in a postgame confrontation with the mother of Denver Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin. It was reported that Cuban referred to Martin as a "thug" or a "punk."

-After moving to Dallas in 1982, Cuban’s first job in Texas was bartending.

-His biggest payday came in 1999 when he sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo! for over $5 billion.