Mark Aguirre’s Jersey Retirement Unites Mavericks Past And Future

The anticipation in Dallas is palpable as the American Airlines Center prepares for a night that’s been decades in the making. On January 30, 2026, the Dallas Mavericks will finally retire Mark Aguirre’s iconic number 24 jersey, honoring the franchise’s first true superstar during halftime of their game against the Charlotte Hornets. It’s a celebration not just of a player, but of a legacy that shaped the very identity of Mavericks basketball—and it comes at a moment when the past and future of the team converge in remarkable fashion.

For longtime Mavericks fans, Aguirre’s story is one of both triumph and heartache. Drafted first overall in 1981, Aguirre gave the fledgling franchise its first taste of national relevance. He poured in an astonishing 13,930 points during his Dallas tenure, setting a franchise record with 29.5 points per game in the 1983-84 season—a mark that stood until the arrival of Dirk Nowitzki and later, Luka Doncic. Aguirre was more than just a scorer; he was the face of a team and a city hungry for basketball greatness.

“Dallas is my lovechild,” Aguirre told reporters ahead of the ceremony. “Basketball-wise, Dallas was always my No. 1 love, and Dallas will be my No. 1 love regardless of whatever goes on. As long as I’m living, when you talk about basketball and what place meant the most to me, there’s no question that Dallas was the most impactful to me and my career.”

But as any Dallas sports fan knows, Aguirre’s relationship with the Mavericks wasn’t always smooth. Stories of friction with head coach Dick Motta and management were well-known, culminating in his controversial trade to the Detroit Pistons in 1989. The split was painful for both sides. Mavericks center James Donaldson once remarked, “We were ready to get somebody that would come in here and play hard every night. Mark would just loaf around and not give good effort in some games.” Yet, even as Aguirre moved on to win two NBA championships with Detroit—alongside his childhood friend Isiah Thomas—his heart never truly left Dallas. “If I had to choose one word to talk about it, it would be ‘misunderstood,’” said Derek Harper, Aguirre’s longtime friend and former teammate. “I think when he left here and went to Detroit, somehow, he became a villain.”

The years that followed saw the Mavericks honor other franchise legends—Rolando Blackman, Harper, Brad Davis—but Aguirre’s name remained conspicuously absent from the rafters. For decades, he watched from the sidelines as the city and team he loved celebrated others, all while he remained in Dallas, raising his five daughters and keeping a 469 area code on his phone. “I never wanted to leave Dallas,” Harper recalled Aguirre saying time and again. “There’s not a single conversation that we have where he doesn’t say that he needs to be in Dallas.”

That long-standing rift finally began to heal on June 26, 2025—the night the Mavericks made history by selecting Cooper Flagg as the first overall pick in the NBA Draft, the first time since Aguirre himself in 1981. Just seventeen minutes before the pick was announced, Aguirre took the stage at the American Airlines Center, greeted by a thunderous ovation. “This is home,” he told the crowd, emotion welling up as he added, “I never thought this time would happen. Because leaving the way I did, getting traded the way I did … it seemed like I was separated from Dallas. And I didn’t know how I’d get back.”

Since that night, Aguirre has woven himself back into the fabric of the franchise, attending events and mentoring the young Flagg, who now carries the weight of being the Mavericks’ latest No. 1 pick. Before tonight’s game, Aguirre offered Flagg some heartfelt advice: “First thing I talked to him about is not being afraid, you know, because you can’t come into this business, especially because you got a big bullseye on your back. Everybody in the whole NBA know who you are… You can’t come in being afraid. I was the number one pick and I had so many guys after me from day one. I was like, ‘Wow’… And he has been tested and he’s coming through it very well.”

Flagg, who was held out of Wednesday’s game due to injury, is available for tonight’s contest—a fitting coincidence, as he’ll take the court on the very night Aguirre is honored. Adding to the intrigue, Flagg will face off against his former Duke teammate and Rookie of the Year rival, Kon Knueppel, making this matchup a showcase of both the Mavericks’ storied past and their promising future. Tip-off is set for 8:30 PM EST, and the energy in the arena is expected to be electric.

For Mavericks fans, tonight’s ceremony is about more than just raising a jersey to the rafters. It’s about recognizing the player who, as Derek Harper put it, “If there was no Mark, there would be no Mavericks.” Aguirre’s impact on the franchise is undeniable. He was the engine behind the team’s first deep playoff run, taking the Showtime Lakers to a dramatic seven-game series in the 1988 Western Conference Finals. After Aguirre’s departure, the Mavericks struggled to recapture that magic, missing the playoffs for more than a decade until their resurgence in the 2000s.

Yet, for all the records and accolades, the ceremony is also about reconciliation and closure. Harper, who will be on the broadcast tonight, summed up the sentiment: “I used to tell people after I got my jersey retired, I said, ‘Mark should have had his jersey retired way before me. I had a great career, but I couldn’t do what he did as a player and for the organization.’”

Tonight, as Mark Aguirre’s number 24 ascends to the rafters, he’ll be surrounded by family, friends, former teammates, and the fans who never forgot his contributions. Isiah Thomas will be there, as will Harper and many of the old guard. The moment promises to be emotional—Aguirre himself admits, “It’s actually going to be too much for me.” But as the Mavericks turn the page to a new era led by Cooper Flagg, they do so with a fuller sense of their own history, finally giving Aguirre the recognition—and the homecoming—he so richly deserves.

As the lights dim and the crowd rises, Dallas will witness not just the honoring of a legend, but the mending of a bond that defines what it means to be a Maverick. The jersey retirement is more than a ceremony; it’s a celebration of healing, legacy, and the enduring power of coming home.