If you ask anyone outside of American Airlines Center what the biggest reason for the Dallas Mavericks not repeating as NBA champions was, you won't get a consensus answer. Layover from celebrating the title might be listed. An aging roster would be part of it. The losses of J.J. Barea, Peja Stojakovic, and DeShawn Stevenson would be listed. But really, everyone would say the same two words. 

"Tyson Chandler."

Chandler, more than any other player, was credited with being the difference between the great Mavericks teams of the past with Dirk Nowitzki and the championship one of 2011. It was Chandler who set the tone. You could just see it when you watched the Mavericks play -- this was a tougher, more intimidating, stronger group than those in years past that had relied on Erick Dampier (no softie, but not physically capable of moving fast enough to challenge).

And the Mavericks were reminded of this. All year. As Chandler helped turn the Knicksfrom a lowly defensive sieve into a top-five defensive team and earned Defensive Player of the Year honors, the criticism only got louder. With the Mavericks now out of the playoffs and fans and media conducting an autoposy to see where the Mavs' title defense went wrong, Chandler's name is again ringing throughout Maverick ears. And GM Donnie Nelson is tired of it. From his appearance on the Skin and Wade show in Dallas, via ESPN Dallas:  

Yikes. No one was invoking the name of the G.O.A.T. when it came to Chandler, but his play made a huge difference for Dallas last year -- and a huge difference for New York this year. Furthermore, with Chandler sick for the first two games ... no, sorry, can't go down that road ... The Heat were just better. The Knicks are still alive in that series, but it's hard to see any team having beaten them in the first three games, the way they played. 

But the Mavericks didn't let Chandler go because they didn't think he was a good player. They knew how valuable he was to them, how re-signing him would have helped their chances at a title over this season and next. But the Mavericks looked at the new Collective Bargaining Agreement and made decisions about the future. It's unknown whether those decisions are based on trying to reel in Deron Williams and/or Dwight Howard, or if they're about the repeater tax and its impact on the Mavs financially.

It doesn't really matter.

Teams are blasted every day in this league for giving older players on the downslide long-term deals that wind up as albatrosses on their cap structure. The Mavericks decided avoiding that fate considering the age of their starters (including Dirk Nowizki, Jason Terry, and Jason Kidd) was worth dealing with the fallout.

Nelson's comments will call into question what the Mavs really thought about Chandler's ability, but reading anything from that team last year, or having been in the locker room when they won the title will tell you they knew what Chandler brought. But the future won't wait. The Mavs did what they had to.