Mavericks Co-Founder Don Carter Dies At Age 84
DALLAS (105.3 The Fan) - Dallas Mavericks co-founder and first-majority owner, Don Carter, passed away at his home in Uptown Dallas Wednesday evening. He was 84-years-old.
"The entire Mavs family is heartbroken by the loss of Mr. Carter," said current Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban. "Along with his wife Mrs. Carter, they have been our guiding lights for the organization since its founding in 1980.
"To say he will be missed does not do justice to just how important Mr. C has been to the Dallas Mavericks and the City of Dallas. Our condolences go out to Mrs. Carter and the entire Carter family."
The Mavericks will honor Carter with a moment of silence during the February 26 game vs. the Indiana Pacers and special tribute at the second time-out of the first quarter.
When Don Carter co-founded the Mavericks in 1980 with Norm Sonju, Dallas was a football town. "Everybody thought we were crazy trying to bring the NBA here," Carter said back in 2011 when the Mavericks won the NBA championship.
After Dallas topped the Miami Heat in game six of the NBA Finals, Cuban had Carter accept the Larry O'Brien trophy from then-NBA commissioner, David Stern.
Carter made the initial $12 million investment of his own money to get the team off the ground, and according to Carter, he did it because his wife loved basketball. But after many tough seasons, Carter sold the team in 1996 to an investment team led by Ross Perot Jr. who then sold it to Cuban. But Carter's love for the Mavericks never died, as he still holds a minority stake in the team to this day.
"Mark Cuban is the classiest person," Carter said in 2011. "When I first met him, the first thing I did was call my wife and tell her that I'd met somebody that loves basketball as much as she did."
To this day, Carter had a familiar presence at home games, always wearing his patented cowboy hat. That same cowboy hat became the inspiration for the Mavericks former logo.
