Does winning count for anything anymore?

I begin this commentary by giving credit where credit is due. The story is not Tiger Woods finishing tied for fourth in The Masters; it’s Charl Schwartzel winning his first green jacket. I cringe each time a celebrity sports figure is given more attention for losing than a competitor is for winning.

Charlie Sheen may be out of his mind, but ask him what the purpose of playing any sport is and you will get a simple response: “Duh, winning!” Herm Edwards said it best during his famous press conference: “You play to win the game!” America was a nation built on winning.

So while there are many storylines surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers, let us not be so quick to forget how they fled the state of Texas with tails between their legs after being drubbed 122-86 by the team playing the best basketball right now — the Dallas Mavericks.

Everyone assumed the Lakers would come out focused and win Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals to take the series back to L.A. They not only lost, but Dallas completely destroyed them. The starting five for the Mavs could have called in sick and the game still would have at least gone into overtime. The top three scorers for the Mavs were bench players, including 2009 Sixth Man of the Year Jason Terry, who led all scorers with 32 points and drained nine 3-pointers. There’s not a more comforted or confident coach out there right now than Rick Carlisle.

There are all sorts of mind-blowing statistics from this series that point to utter domination of the repeat champion Lakers, but I fear the Mavs will not get the full recognition they deserve, at least not right now. The legacy of Phil Jackson will be a story for weeks, and justifiably so. Although his team lost, he deserves to be recognized for a winning career that has proved to be unmatched by any other coach in professional basketball. And it won’t take long for ESPN to draw its attention to Miami and LeBron James, who, by the way, has his own enshrinement just outside of the ESPN offices of him throwing down a dunk, right next to Tiger Woods giving a fist pump after sinking an eagle putt.

The Mavs have always been in the shadow of West elites such as Los Angeles and San Antonio. Along with the Spurs, Dallas is the only other team to win 50 or more games in every regular season since 2001-2002. The only difference is the Spurs won multiple championship rings, but maybe this will finally be the year where the Mavs get a little recognition for doing what teams are purposed to do—win.