Mama said there’d be days like this. An invaluable lesson everyone learns at some point is life isn’t fair. Some learn early, some learn later, but eventually some event transpires in our life that lets us know that things don’t always go according to plan and that we’ll experience some injustices.
 
 Avery Johnson found that out that hard way last Thursday, as he got the axe, oh my I’m sorry, was “relieved of his coaching duties” last week by the Dallas Mavericks. After getting bounced in the first round for the second straight year eccentric Mavs owner Mark Cuban decided it was best for the team to go in another direction.

 The real question is just what direction is Dallas trying to go and why can’t Johnson lead them there?

 When Johnson took over the head coaching reigns after his mentor Don Nelson relinquished the squad two-thirds of the way into the 2004-05 season the Mavs were in a transition. Dallas had a great building block in Dirk Nowitzki, one of the league’s coldest players and a perennial all-star, but there was also a lot of uncertainty. 

 Steve Nash had just rolled out to Phoenix for more pesos. The Mavs added Jason Terry as his replacement, a good player, but a point guard who had a penchant for shooting first and distributing the ball last.
 
 And they had to integrate new acquisitions Jerry Stackhouse and Eric Dampier into the system.
Having no previous coaching experience at any level, Johnson faced a daunting order, yet the rookie coach responded with flying colors, coaching Dallas to a 16-2 record to close the regular season, and a first round series win, before bowing out to the Suns in the Western Conference Semi-Finals.

 In 2006, the “Little General” led Dallas to a stunning upset of the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in a hellacious 7 game battle en route to an NBA Finals appearance. The Mavs took the first two games against the Miami Heat and appeared well on their way to locking up the franchise’s first NBA title. Unfortunately for Mavs fans Dwayne Wade’s body was seemingly mystically possessed by the spirit of a young Michael Jordan, and he charbroiled Dallas, snatching the title from the Mavs who became the only team in league history to lose a championship after holding a 2-0 lead.

 Critics say Johnson had to go after the finals meltdown, last year’s historic first-round upset at the hands of the Golden State Warriors, and this year’s early exit. Detractors also accuse Johnson of getting outcoached the past two years by Pat Riley and Don Nelson.

 No doubt the Mavs had some dreadful collapses. Yeah, Dallas went 23-24 in the playoffs under Johnson, and lost 12 of their last 15 playoff games. But to dwell on the negative is taking a narrow view of the collective body of work.

 Dallas has always had crazy talent, but even though they reached the 2003 west finals they were never considered true threats. Nobody feared the Mavs crumb cake soft defense. In the last three years Johnson was the architect behind the Mavs metamorphosis  into one of the show’s premier squads. With Johnson at the helm the Mavs went 194-70, finished with west’s top seed last year racking up 67 w’s, tied for the fifth best record in league history, and Johnson’s 73.8 winning percentage was the highest among active NBA coaches during his tenure.

 Johnson’s motivating tactics helped evolve from Nowitzki from an elite player into a MVP. He took Terry from an uncomfortable, fledgling point guard and helped turn him into an instant offense combo guard off the bench. Josh Howard flourished, elevating from a good hooper to an all-star. The 2006 Coach of the Year was even able to get Erick Dampstank, my trip Dampier into a serviceable, halfway productive center. Well, at least until this year.

 Johnson imparted the same tenacity to his players that enabled him to overcome his physical limitations and become a solid starting point guard on the San Antonio Spurs 1999 NBA championship crew. Though they never became a staunch lockdown defensive unit, the Mavs could get stops when they needed to and played with toughness until their last two playoff appearances. All of that is a byproduct of Johnson’s remarkable leadership qualities that made the Mavs legit title challengers.

 Now I’ll admit, Dallas definitely should have won the 2006 title, and getting bum rushed by Golden State last year was completely inexcusable. The Mavs played with no toughness, they got outplayed in every facet of the game and they got punk’d like a bunch of marshmallows and straight throttled.
Johnson did make a tactical error changing his starting lineup to counter the Warriors smaller run and gun game, but there comes a time when players gotta boss up and play with some intestinal fortitude and not allow themselves to get slapped up by the eighth seed, especially if your sole mission was to get redemption from the previous championship debacle.

 Bringing in Jason Kidd for Devin Harris at the trade deadline sounded like a great idea on paper. Kidd’s a sureshot first ballot future hall-of-famer and still a supreme show runner, but the deal never materialized as anticipated. The Mavs never jelled and were unable to establish  a consistent identity. There wasn’t any rhythm offensively, Dallas focused too much on exploiting one-on-one match-ups and there wasn’t any chemistry, which led to them getting bludgeoned by a superior Hornets squad.

 But don’t blame Avery for a deal he never wanted to pull the trigger on in the first place. At the time of the Kidd swap, the Mavs were 35-18 and in a solid playoff position and Johnson didn’t see any reason to give the team a facelift. While they were no longer the dominant team they were the previous year they were still one of the best in the west.

 Johnson had spent years grooming Harris and he felt the time had finally come to hand the keys over to the promising young point guard and let him navigate the whip. Quiet as kept, Dallas also severely missed DaSagna Diop. Alright, you can stop rolling on the floor now. My man could barely dunk a donut, but Diop was an invaluable interior presence whose shot-blocking anchored the Mavs defense.

 You can’t minimize the impact of those losses. The trade destroyed the very fabric of the team and killed the camaraderie they worked so hard to create. Now Dallas is straddled with a Kidd for next year as he will surely re-up on the last year of his contract for the $21 million the Mavs owe year. He’d be a fool to let that type of cabbage go. Dallas swung for the fence and wanted instant gratification when they would have been better suited settling for the double. They  should have kept Harris as a foundational block and been a title contender for the next five years.

 So where does Johnson go now? He’s already a top candidate for the New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls coaching vacancies. If Mike D’Antoni bolts Phoenix which appears to be imminent the Suns should definitely contact Johnson. He brings the type of tough-minded grittiness and defensive emphasis Phoenix dismally porous defense needs.

 It’s ashamed successful coaches can get wrongfully played and blazed without hesitation, but that’s the culture of the game. Like Janet Jackson said, “What have you done for me lately?” Unfortunately, that’s what its become. A what have you done for me lately business. Johnson deserves big ups for the classiness and professionalism he’s exhibited during this ordeal. He would have been justified if he ripped Dallas ownership for his dismissal, but Johnson took the high road and his behavior has been exemplary.

 Johnson will undoubtedly bounce back like roundball and keep his position as one of the NBA’s best top young coaches. Avery’s a man of great faith and like the bible says, “You reap what you sow.” Johnson’s sown a lot of good seeds so he’s sure to reap a lot of prosperity with his high dirty south accented voice yelling on another team’s bench next season.