The pull-up jumper is one of basketball's most demanding shots — a one-motion creation requiring perfect footwork, a quick release, and the confidence to attempt it in traffic against the best defenders in the world. Rolando Blackman mastered it with his left hand. In a sport where left-handed shooters are already uncommon, a left-handed pull-up specialist was practically exotic. Defenses knew it was coming. They prepared for it. And Rolando Blackman made it anyway, for eleven seasons, as the most important offensive player the Dallas Mavericks had ever seen.
Blackman arrived in Dallas in 1981 as the ninth overall pick from Kansas State — a smooth, composed shooting guard from Brooklyn, New York, born in Panama City, Panama, whose silky exterior concealed a fierce competitive core. What followed was one of the greatest scoring careers in the history of the franchise: 16,643 points as a Maverick, four All-Star appearances, and a decade of proving that Dallas could develop and retain elite basketball talent. When the Mavericks retired his number 22 on April 18, 2000, they were retiring the number of the player who first proved this franchise could become something real.
Brooklyn via Panama: The Making of a Star
Blackman grew up in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York — one of the most competitive basketball environments in America — after his family emigrated from Panama. The combination of his Panamanian roots and Brooklyn's street-ball culture shaped a player who played with composure in chaos, who never seemed rattled, and who could create his own shot in the most congested defensive situations. At Kansas State, he played four seasons under coaches Cotton Fitzsimmons and Jack Hartman, becoming the program's most decorated player and developing the mid-range game that would define his professional career.
Dallas selected him ninth overall in 1981, and within two seasons, the Mavericks' offensive identity was effectively synonymous with Rolando Blackman. He was their first legitimate star — the player opposing teams had to game-plan for, the player whose scoring could swing the result of any game. In a young franchise that was still learning what winning looked like, Blackman provided a consistent point of excellence that the organization and fanbase could build their identity around.
The Four-Time All-Star
Blackman was selected to four NBA All-Star Games — 1985, 1986, 1987, and 1990 — in an era when Western Conference rosters were stacked with Hall of Famers. To earn four All-Star selections during the decade that included Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Alex English is a statement about the level of sustained excellence Blackman delivered. He was not an injury replacement or a momentum pick. He earned those selections in the traditional way: by being one of the best players at his position in the conference for four separate seasons.
His scoring peaked in the late 1980s, when he consistently averaged 19-21 points per game and led the Mavericks through their most competitive era. The 1987-88 team — featuring Blackman alongside Derek Harper, Mark Aguirre, and Sam Perkins — reached the Western Conference Finals, the deepest playoff run in franchise history at the time. Blackman averaged 21.7 points in that playoff run, delivering on the biggest stage the Mavericks had ever occupied.
The Art of the Left-Hand Mid-Range
What made Blackman's scoring so distinctive was the aesthetic quality of it. In an era of physical basketball — hand-checking was legal, defensive contact was tolerated at a level modern players would find unrecognizable — Blackman's game was smooth. Fluid. Almost effortless in its execution, even when the defender was draped across him and the shot clock was winding down.
His signature was the left-handed pull-up in the mid-range — a shot that many players avoid precisely because it is so difficult to make consistently at the NBA level. Blackman hit it consistently for eleven seasons. The shot was not a fallback option; it was an intentional weapon, cultivated and refined until it became effectively unguardable when he was in rhythm. Opponents who focused on taking it away opened up his right-hand drives. Opponents who focused on the drive gave him the pull-up. It was the offensive puzzle of a genuinely sophisticated scorer.
Why the Mavericks Retired #22
The Mavericks retired Rolando Blackman's number 22 on April 18, 2000, alongside Brad Davis's number 15 in a ceremony that honored the franchise's first great era. The two retirements were fitting companions — Davis the selfless orchestrator, Blackman the brilliant scorer, together representing the identity of the early Mavericks more completely than any single player could.
Blackman's 16,643 points as a Maverick stood as the franchise's all-time scoring record for many years before being eclipsed by Dirk Nowitzki's two-decade run. But when Dirk finally passed that mark, it was evidence of how high Blackman had set the bar — a standard that required one of the greatest players in NBA history and 21 seasons to surpass. That is the measure of Rolando Blackman's Dallas career: he scored more points in a Mavericks uniform than every player in franchise history except a German genius who played for two decades.
Number 22 belongs in the rafters because Rolando Blackman was the first player to make Dallas a place worth watching, a franchise worth following, a team that could develop real talent and compete with the best in the Western Conference. Before Dirk, before Luka, before Cooper Flagg, there was a left-handed shooting guard from Brooklyn by way of Panama who made it look beautiful. That's worth forever.
