Kidd shows this can still be an old man's game

"He's what you want out of a professional athlete, did everything on the floor for his team," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "Nothing he does surprises me... he battles and competes against whoever he has in front of him and that's what you want. He's a terrific player."

Brooks was referring to Jason Kidd, a legend in his own right.

While many question whether this magical season will be remembered as the final push for redemption, for posterity, for a the immortality of a championship before the window of opportunity slams shut on a veteran Dallas team, they primarily focus this sentiment on the team's best player, Dirk Nowitzki.

Jason Kidd is 38. Though he continues to reinvent himself as a player, not relying on quickness, speed or deceptive athletic abilities to become a reliable spot-up shooter (he has hit 39.5 percent of his 3-pointers since joining the Mavs in 2008 after having never had a season above 37 percent), a rugged defender and a brilliant architect; but time comes for us all.

"He does so many things that cannot be quantified on the stats sheet," Mavericks' coach Rick Carlisle said. "Just from having a calming influence, a knack for hitting big shots and finding the window to deliver the ball at the right time to the right guy. And defensively... he's a guy that's directing traffic out there for us."

Make no mistake, Nowitzki is the best player on this team, but, as Carlisle notes, Kidd is the man controlling the game, protecting its flow and directing its course. In doing so, and charmed by the wisdom of his 17-year career, he's sturdily pointed the bow of the Dallas ship squarely toward what might be his last and greatest hope for the one thing that has eluded him, a championship.

"Really, I mean, I'm proud of Jason Kidd," Dirk said. "I mean, the way he battles on defense, the floor game he leads for us every night, the steals he gets... I tip my hat to him every night, the way he competes."

With the eager hands of time trying to pry the game from him, Kidd tastes the significance of the opportunity at hand, and though he tells Mike Fisher of Dallasbasketball.com that retirement is not currently on the docket, regardless of the possible lockout situation, time isn't turning away.

"Everybody asks questions about the age and all that other stuff," Carlisle said, "but the thing I'd say to anybody is, ‘Never underestimate greatness.'"