Dallas Mavericks DeJuan Blair says San Antonio Spurs didn’t win title because he was on bench
By Bryan Rose
Current Dallas Mavericks ‘big man’ DeJuan Blair is a pretty quiet and calm fellow, though, he recently had no problem voicing his displeasure with sitting at the end of the San Antonio Spurs bench.
Blair, a former star at Pittsburgh was drafted by the Spurs in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft, not due to a lack of talent but rather health concerns – he has no ACL’s.
That didn’t stop the former Pitt star from succeeding in the NBA though where Blair became a rotational player for the Spurs organization, playing over 20 minutes per game backing up Tim Duncan. That role diminished this past season though, especially late in the year where Blair was continually found sitting on the bench. That sentiment rang true during the postseason and NBA Finals as well where Blair only played in 3 of the 7 Finals games, combining for 17 minutes total in the process.
Unhappy with his role, Blair departed the Alamo and made sure to give a parting shot on his way out, suggesting the Spurs would have defeated the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals had he played more.
Per Dallas News:
"When asked about getting back to the NBA Finals, Blair told NBA.com, “Of course I want to get back. I don’t think we’ve [Spurs] would have came up short if I would’ve played but, hey, keep that out there.”"