Nearly two decades after he first pulled on a Dallas Mavericks jersey, Jason Terry’s fingerprints are still all over the franchise. The sharpshooting guard, known to fans simply as “Jet,” arrived in Dallas in 2004 and quickly became one of the most trusted closers in the NBA under head coach Don Nelson. That early spark under Nelson laid the groundwork for one of the most beloved eras in Mavericks history, a stretch that eventually produced a championship banner and a legacy that Dallas fans still talk about today.
Terry went on to capture the 2009 NBA Sixth Man of the Year award and served as an indispensable cornerstone of Dallas’ historic 2011 NBA Championship run, hitting big shots off the bench alongside Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, and the rest of that title-winning core. Now, years removed from his playing days, the question of whether his No. 31 should be lifted into the rafters at the American Airlines Center has become a real conversation among Mavericks fans and former teammates alike.
Speaking with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, Terry didn’t shy away from the topic. With his deep roots in the Dallas-Fort Worth community, he reflected candidly on what such a tribute would mean to him.
A “Tremendous Honor”
“I think it would be a tremendous honor,” Terry said. “Obviously, the years I spent in Dallas were some very pivotal ones. I had the opportunity to amass individual success along with team success – being a Sixth Man of the Year, and then an NBA Champion, but more importantly, the impact that I have in the community.”
It’s a telling response from a player whose career has always been measured in more than just points and highlight reels. Terry’s stint in Dallas included some of the most clutch postseason moments in franchise history, but he’s quick to point out that individual hardware and championship rings only tell part of the story.
Dallas Became a Second Home
Though born and raised in Seattle, Dallas quickly transformed into Terry’s second hometown. “Dallas is a second home now,” Terry shared. “My kids live there, my granddaughter lives there, I still run my girls’ basketball program out of Dallas. And so, it has a special place in my heart. That honor would not only be for me, but it would be for all the people that supported me along the way throughout my career in Dallas. So, yeah. Tremendous honor.”
That sense of community runs deep for Terry, who has built a life in North Texas long after his playing days ended. Between family ties and his continued investment in youth basketball, his connection to Dallas is less about nostalgia and more about an ongoing relationship with the city that helped define his career.
A Former Teammate’s Case
Terry isn’t the only one making the case. Former Mavericks guard Darrell Armstrong, who spent time alongside Terry in Dallas, believes his old teammate belongs among the next names honored by the franchise, along with fellow Mavericks great Josh Howard.
“Jason Terry, or Josh Howard, probably one of those two,” Armstrong said. “I know Josh scored a lot of points as well. Yeah, Josh, man. I don’t know. Hell, he had the numbers. He’s been an All-Star, and you’d like to see him get to the Hall of Fame as well. Like I said, Jet Terry too. Both of them did a lot for our team and scored a lot, so you just must wait and see. But one of those two.”
What It Would Mean For The Franchise
The Mavericks’ rafters currently honor a short list of franchise legends, and the debate over who joins that group next has simmered for years. Terry’s case rests on a rare combination: individual recognition in the form of a Sixth Man of the Year award, a title run that remains the high-water mark in franchise history, and a community presence that has outlasted his playing career by more than a decade.
Whether the Mavericks ultimately retire his number remains an open question, but Terry has made clear how much the possibility means to him and the people who supported him throughout his time in Dallas. For now, the conversation itself is a reminder of how much that 2011 championship core still shapes the identity of the franchise, and how much Dallas continues to mean to the players who helped build it.
