For local fans, it's payback time ? time for a real uproar, said Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who told a reporter in Sacramento: "Just wait till we get back to Dallas."
"This is all about having fun," he wrote in a subsequent e-mail. "There are challenges on the court, which our players work hard to conquer. Then there are challenges to a city's pride.

"Sacramento fans seem to think they are the loudest, most impactful fans in the NBA. I happen to think that Mavs fans have far more energy and more impact."

But come on, a riot of cowbells, right there behind the poor Sacramento bench?

Some might say that would just beat all.