Tony Romo makes thrill-less NBA debut with Mavericks

Published: Apr 12, 2017 at 08:53 AM

Tony Romo's night as an honorary Dallas Maverick was pretty uneventful. He didn't come out of the tunnel like Willis Reed in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals. He didn't channel his inner-Air Bud and drain the winning shot with a header.

All of these ridiculous scenarios, er, Dallas sports fan fantasies, were stopped by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told ESPN he initially had every intention of signing Romo and giving him some NBA minutes. "I told (Silver) what I was going to do and said, 'Fine me if you don't like it.'"

However, Silver told Cuban the NBA would not recognize the contract.

The Mavericks are 32-49 and currently 12th in the Western Conference heading into their final game of the season Wednesday.

Some fans have viewed Cuban's gesture as a simple nod of appreciation to one of Dallas' great athletes. Others view it as cheap marketing tactic to generate some interest in one of the NBA's lackluster teams.

I'm right in the middle. I don't mind a team honoring one of the city's best athletes in a unique way, but I wasn't really itching to see the NFL's biggest punching bag have something like this happen to him.

Maybe Cuban is onto something though.

Imagine the Lakers giving LaVar Ball a.k.a. Mr. 2.2 PPG a bench spot during Lonzo Ball's rookie season. Shudders

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