Mario Elie on the Mavericks

[TheKid]

By Mike Fisher -- DallasBasketball.com

Mario Elie won three different NBA Finals rings with two different Texas teams after starting his career with Don Nelson’s Warriors, and the former NBA standout seems half-serious when he says he wishes he could make a comeback and play for Dallas and totally serious when he says the Mavs are capable of winning a title this year.

Our Q&A with Mario Elie, in which he explains how Nellie has changed, how the Mavs have developed a style that seems familiar to him, and tells it like he thinks it is about everybody from Michael Finley to Peter Vescey:
DB.com: With three NBA Finals rings from two different teams, the Rockets twice and then the Spurs, you must be some sort of NBA lucky rabbit’s foot.
Elie: “Yup. I’m just waiting for Nellie to give me a call so I can make it a Texas threesome. I’m available! I played with Nellie, and I love him, and I had fun with him. So a fourth title with a third team would be, for me, like, ‘fourth time’s a charm.’’’
DB.com: Now that you are permanently retired, can you reflect on your greatest moment?
Elie: “The benefit of being a veteran who knows how to win. When the Spurs won it, Sean Elliott had the ball at the end of the game. All the guys were so happy that they ran to hug each other. Me, I’m the only smart guy. I went after the ball, grabbed it, then hugged the guys! That’s championship experience.’’
DB.com: You’ve stayed in shape, but there are some gray hairs in the beard, and your head would be bald even if you didn’t shave it, right?
Elie: “Age is just a number, man. You see Michael Jordan out there. He’s keeping things going for old, bald guys. Of course, Patrick Ewing is still out there, too, making the old guys look bad.’’
DB.com: How reminiscent of your old Warriors teams are these Mavericks?
Elie: “That’s just like ‘Run TMC,’ where we’re out there scoring 118 a game and having a good time.’’
DB.com: Can you win a championship with that style?
Elie: “Nellie definitely likes that style. When we played San Antonio in the first round the first time we made the playoffs, I was the 4 man. I was guarding Terry Cummings in the first round, and then James Worthy (of the Lakers) in the second round. I was 6-4, 220. ... But now he’s got 7-footers who can shoot from the outside. Drive, kick and shoot the 3. That’s the Mavs’ style.
“But it’s kind of a waste of Shawn Bradley and Evan Eschmeyer! Whatever happened to those guys? Shawn Bradley can’t even get off the bench! He’s the tallest cheerleader in history! What a waste of height.’’
DB.com: Where do you rank Nellie as a coach?
Elie: “He is a very good coach, and I learned a lot from him. And he learned a lot, I think, from situations with C-Webb, with Sprewell, with New York. I had problems with Nellie, also. Nellie is a players’ coach now. But he used to be hard on guys. He once came out and told Victor Alexander that the reason he wasn’t playing was that he was too fat – right in front of guys! I’m from New York, so I don’t take real well to guys busting on me. Now I know he was just trying to make me a better player, and that I was probably a knucklehead. But I think Nellie has changed, too.’’
DB.com: Your thoughts on Mark Cuban?
Elie: “He’s created a nice comfort zone. Who wouldn’t love to play for him? I never had a DVD player. The owners I had would barely feed you! In Houston, oh my God, they’d put old grapes and ugly bananas in out lockers. Old grapes and ugly bananas that you couldn’t even eat! … I do with, though, that he’d start to move in the background now. Let the players get the glory and just sit back and enjoy it.’’
DB.com: Where do the Lakers figure now?
Elie: “This is not the same Lakers team. Shaq is hurt, Samaki Walker is a little banged up, the whole team in banged up. I don’t see them making it. I see Dallas and I see Sacramento. Now, if Dallas goes cold, they’re done. But if they shoot like they can, nobody can beat them.’’
DB.com: What did you think about the Finley trade rumors?
Elie: “Ridiculous. That team has two great All-Stars, and if Fin was healthy, all three of them might have made it. Finley is a great player. Short-term, they were good without him. But in the long haul, if you want to get to the Finals, Fin is necessary. He’s got an inside game, an outside game, he fits what Nellie likes.’’
DB.com: You’re so in the Mavs’ corner now that you even love the new uniforms, huh?
Elie: “Love the Mavs uniforms and love the Lakers uniforms. Hate the Rockets uniforms. I wish they’d go back to the old style, keep the blue, but get rid of the pinstripes. And they’re not subtle pinstripes, either. If I ever have children, I wouldn’t ever let my kid buy a Rockets jersey, just for that reason.’’
DB.com: Have you enjoyed the TV work you’ve done with TNT?
Elie: “A wonderful experience. I got to hang out with Kenny Smith, who I played with for five years and won two championships with. We were like brothers, just kickin’ it. Charles Barkley wasn’t there, otherwise we could have gone at it with him. I had to settle for Peter Vescey, who is an idiot, also.’’