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Remember, he had that one good season in 2003-04 and parlayed it into a big-time contract with the Memphis Grizzlies? It was Jerry West who was the Grizzlies general manager at the time, and it's probably considered one of the worst moves he's made in his career as an executive. The topic of Cardinal and his signing came up during a discussion with West on Thursday. "He was a player we thought would help," said West, the Grizzlies GM from 2002-07. "He could shoot the 3-pointer, gives you great effort, and (coach) Hubie Brown really liked him. When you looked at the strengths and weakness of that team, we felt we needed a dirty-work type player, get loose balls. Make those kinds of plays." CSNBayArea.com

Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies, Jerry West, Brian Cardinal 

Memphis was coming off a 50-win season and their first playoff appearance in franchise history. They were swept in the first round by San Antonio. "(Cardinal) played great for the Warriors," West said of the 2003-04 season in which Cardinal averaged 9.6 points per game and shot 44 percent from 3-point range. "His first year he played well, and then he got hurt. To say that we were disappointed would be the truth. Then he got hurt and he never really got back to where he was. CSNBayArea.com

Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies, Jerry West, Brian Cardinal 

The Heat thus limp back home praying that their closer absorbed no lasting damage from the Cardinal encounter, since James doesn't appear capable of filling that void. After all those vows to redeem himself from his eight-point misery in Game 4, LeBron looked like a shooter with zero faith in his shot on several jumpers and finished with a miserly two points in Game 5's final period. "He's really a unique player," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said of Cardinal, who logged just nine minutes and 37 seconds but has given himself a shot to be remembered -- even if that wasn't the intention as he slid into charge-taking position -- as the first Mav who's ever managed to stop (or at least slow) Wade. "He's always going to be there taking charges," Carlisle continued. "He's always going to be making contact with people. He's going to be there." ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, Brian Cardinal 

On coach Rick Carlisle’s depth chart, Cardinal is buried behind Nowitzki, Shawn Marion and Peja Stojakovic—a distant moon in the Mavs’ solar system. This hard truth does not bother him. “This is the most enjoyable season I’ve had in the NBA,” Cardinal said. If nothing else, his candor is remarkable. “Everybody wants to play,” he said. “But in the whole scheme of things, we need those guys out there on the court more than we need me because, well, they’re obviously much better than I am.” Wall Street Journal

Dallas Mavericks, Brian Cardinal 

Cardinal, who once upon a time was known as a 3-point specialist, might get another chance in Sunday’s Game 3 at American Airlines Center. Teammate Brendan Haywood, a center who has been struggling with a hip pointer, expressed confidence in Cardinal as his potential surrogate off the bench. “Put the Custodian in there,” said Haywood, referring to Cardinal’s nickname. “He’s gonna be ready, he’s gonna be foulin’.” Wall Street Journal

Dallas Mavericks, Brian Cardinal 

During that year Cardinal’s nickname hit fellow Piston Jerome Williams while the two were carpooling: “He’s like, ‘You know what? You’re always diving on the floor and scrambling and doing the dirty work. And the name has to start off with the first letter of your first name. The Custodian!’ So he started calling me it.” And it stuck? “For the most part,” he said. “In Washington, nobody called me that. I don’t even know if they knew my first or last name in Washington.” Wall Street Journal

Dallas Mavericks, Brian Cardinal 

Indications from sources are the Mavericks want to at least bring back Chandler, Barea and injured forward Caron Butler. Brian Cardinal and Peja Stojakovic are the other two free agents. The Mavs currently aren't in position to lock up any of the free agents. The threat of a lockout and the new collective bargaining agreement will certainly change the financial parameters of future contract negotiations. Much has to be sorted out before next season's roster is constructed. ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, Free Agency, Peja Stojakovic, Tyson Chandler, Caron Butler, Brian Cardinal, Jose Juan Barea 

Like most of America, I had no idea why Brian Cardinal was given floor time in the third quarter of an NBA Finals game. He soon answered my questions with a good ol' fashioned face rake of Mike Bibby (click to animate) SB Nation

Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, Mike Bibby, Brian Cardinal 

In an attempt to block a potential lockout, the players' association filed an unfair labor charge against the league last week with the National Labor Relations Board. "From what I hear and read and see, we're going to get locked out," Mavericks co-player rep Brian Cardinal said. "But hopefully that doesn't happen." Thanks largely to interest in the Heat, the league has seen a big increase in TV ratings during this year's playoffs. Any work stoppage would come with the sport's popularity at a peak. "Not thinking about that now," the Heat's Dwyane Wade said. "When it's time to think about it, we will. Obviously, it's something that we've known is a possibility for a while. All of us have done our jobs and if there is, we'll be prepared for it. "But at this point, the game is at its highest. The game is doing great. We've been part of the most-watched games in NBA history. NBA basketball is as [good] as it's been in a long time." CBSSports.com

Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, Dwyane Wade, Lockout, Brian Cardinal 

The Trail Blazers are upset that Cardinal applied a very hard screen on guard Patrick Mills on Monday with about 13 seconds left in Game 5. Tempers flared after the game was over with guard Wesley Matthews, Mills and some other Blazers shouting some unpleasant words at Cardinal. But Cardinal said the Blazers are the ones at fault. He noted that the game was already settled, but Mills was applying heavy man-to-man pressure defense to guard J.J. Barea in the backcourt as he was bringing the ball up the floor. In that situation, normally no one guards anyone, the clock runs out and the teams go to their respective dressing rooms. Cardinal said if Mills doesn't pick up Barea full court, "I'm going to be standing on the court waiting for the clock to run out and the buzzer to sound. "Patty, if they're mad, they should be mad at Earl [Barron] or [Nicolas] Batum or whoever else was in the game that should have called out that screen." Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers, Patrick Mills, Brian Cardinal 

Cardinal has played 1 minute and 53 seconds in this series. He doesn't anticipate any repercussions from Blazers fans in Game 6 on Thursday. "It doesn't matter to me," Cardinal said. "I've played a total of what, two minutes this series? "If they're worried about me and my screens... " Cardinal has some empathy for Mills. "I wasn't trying to hurt him," he said. "I was just playing smart basketball, playing hard basketball. That's what they were doing." Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers, Patrick Mills, Brian Cardinal 

Bad blood surfaced between the Trail Blazers and Mavericks at the end of Game 5 when Dallas reserve Brian Cardinal levied what the Blazers feel was an unwarranted, blind-sided screen on Patty Mills at halfcourt in the final seconds. Blazers guard Wesley Matthews sought out Cardinal after the game and had a few choice words for him at halfcourt, during which Mavericks reserve DeShawn Stevenson interjected. Matthews and Stevenson exchanged pointed expletives from about 10 feet apart before Stevenson was bear-hugged by a teammate and pushed toward the Dallas locker room. “I know it's the playoffs and everything, but come on,'' Matthews said. “With four seconds left in the game? But that's cool. I'm not going to forget it, that's for sure.'' Oregonian

Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers, Wesley Matthews, Patrick Mills, Brian Cardinal, DeShawn Stevenson 

Stevenson said he was merely coming to Cardinal's aid. “I’m not going to let anybody talk to my teammates like that,'' Stevenson said. “I said what I had to say. He walked away. And we walked away.'' Oregonian

Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers, Wesley Matthews, Patrick Mills, Brian Cardinal, DeShawn Stevenson 

“That shit is hard,” Marion said. He claimed he’s tried yoga only a few times at his offseason home in Chicago; accessibility to it has kept him from trying it on a more frequent basis, although he wouldn’t elaborate exactly what was inaccessible about it. Terry explained he avoids yoga for the simple fact that it’s painful. “I don’t like pain,” Terry said. “Why would you do something that hurts?” SLAM

Dallas Mavericks, Shawn Marion, Brian Cardinal, Jason Terry, Yoga 

Dallas Mavericks forward Brian Cardinal, whose wife is a yoga instructor, reserves his time on the yoga mat for the offseason, even though he admitted younger players have opened up to the discipline. “I’m a big believer in it,” said the 11-year big man, who prefers sticking to his yoga-free in-season routine. “I think the newer generation of will do it much more than older athletes.” Two of his teammates, forward Shawn Marion and guard Jason Terry, don’t share his enthusiasm. SLAM

Dallas Mavericks, Shawn Marion, Brian Cardinal, Jason Terry, Yoga 

The Mavericks will keep one of their players with a non-guaranteed contract, but not the other. Steve Novak, the stellar outside shooter who played sparingly in the first two months of the season, will be waived so that he can clear waivers before next Monday, when all contracts become guaranteed. Novak was working on a veteran minimum contract worth about $800,000. Meanwhile, it appears Brian Cardinal will be retained. If he is on the roster on Monday, his entire salary of about $1.3 million will be guaranteed. Dallas Morning News

Dallas Mavericks, Brian Cardinal, Steve Novak 

Marc Stein: Team source confirms that Mavs are keeping both Brian Cardinal and Steve Novak and will open season with 15-man max roster. Twitter

Dallas Mavericks, Brian Cardinal, Steve Novak 

The Mavericks signed three free agents to fill out their training camp roster, the team announced Monday. Dee Brown, Brian Cardinal and Adam Haluska will join the team for its first practice at Tuesday at SMU's Crum Basketball Center. Dallas Morning News

Dallas Mavericks, Free Agency, Brian Cardinal 

Forward Brian Cardinal, guard Dee Brown and guard Adam Haluska are among the players expected to be among training camp invitees. They will be working with non-guaranteed contracts. Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Dallas Mavericks, Dee Brown, Brian Cardinal 

Training camp opens in a week and the Mavericks’ intentions are to start with only 13 guaranteed contracts. A few others will be brought in, probably including 6-8 Brian Cardinal, who won’t be guaranteed any money or a roster spot. He’ll have to earn his way onto the regular-season roster and if he doesn’t, there’s no risk on the Mavericks’ part. There was a time before Cardinal signed a six-year deal with Memphis in 2004 that the Mavericks had an interest in bringing him in. But the price at the time was too high. Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Dallas Mavericks, Brian Cardinal