Ex-Mavericks announcer Bob Ortegal does not look back at his exit, but can’t quit the Mavs
Bob Ortegal wears his Dallas Mavericks 2011 NBA championship ring proudly, as it can be seen from Jupiter.
It has been more than 10 years since the longtime TV analyst stepped away from the team’s broadcast booth and effectively retired to his house in west Fort Worth, not too far from Shady Oaks Country Club.
You would never know it’s been 10 years.
Other than maybe one or two hair follicles that no longer fire, he looks the same.
That unmistakable deep, deliberate Midwestern cadence still sounds the same.
He loves to watch golf. He still does not care to play golf.
“I’m terrible,” he said.
He watches all of the Mavericks games.
“I guess I can’t give it up,” he said in his living room during a recent interview. “I still watch all of ’em. I watch the pregames. I watch the postgames.”
Ortegal is 81, and in a good place.
As to the specifics of his departure from the Mavericks in the middle of the 2010-’11 season, it’s in his past. It’s not some horror story, but it’s a subject he does not wish to revisit.
“You know, that was 11 years ago,” he said with no hint of any emotion.
He thinks for a few seconds.
“At 81, he said, “I learned that your past is a point of reference, not a place of residence.”
Ortegal was with the Mavs as a TV analyst from 1988 to 2011. He worked with the franchise when it was the worst team in the NBA.
He had the impossible job of trying to sound upbeat about the Mavericks when they finished 11-71 in the 1992-’93 season. And again when they finished 13-69 the following year.
He was with the Mavs when they became one of the best teams in the NBA.
When Ortegal stepped away, it essentially concluded a run of 65 years in basketball.
Like so many people who work in sports, leaving can be traumatic. The job becomes your identity. Even if leaving is a straight line, the path is a maze of fear.
During the spring of 2011, he was able to continue to do some studio analyst work as the Mavericks went on their playoff run which concluded with an NBA title.
Those few months in the studio essentially prepared Ortegal for retired life.
“Everybody should have that time to transition out, so you’re ready for it,” he said.
He was given the chance to resume a part-time studio role, but he passed. When Ortegal was done, he was done.
The Mavs gave him a ring, and he was ready to be retired.
The break allowed him to do some things he had never previously had time to do, mostly traveling with his wife, Kerre; he had the chance to go up to his native Illinois to watch the Chicago Cubs play at Wrigley Field in the spring. Or fall. Or whenever he wanted.
His office is stuffed with framed autographed sports mementos, letters, and notes he kept from his head coaching days at Drake, where he worked from 1974 to 1981.
He is still a basketball addict. He still sounds like he’d like to break down film, and give his thoughts on a team.
In this case, the 2021-22 Dallas Mavericks.
“(The Mavericks) have a chance. (Coach) Jason Kidd has not put a saddle on Luka (Doncic),” Ortegal said.
(Writer’s note: This conversation at his home happened before the Mavs started their second round playoff series against the top seeded Phoenix Suns, which has the suspense of a Disney animated feature film).
Ortegal was not unlike a lot of Mavericks observers in the offseason who felt hiring Kidd created questions when there should have been answers.
“I had some reservations only because of his time with Brooklyn and Milwaukee,” Ortegal said of Kidd’s previous head coaching stops.
“But, you gotta remember, I was with Jason when he first came into the league as a rookie. I saw him when he came into the league and he was not a good shooter. The court was his stage, and the ball was his prop.
“He went to work, and his game expanded. I saw, when he was a player, how hard he worked at getting better. I saw him change his game, and he’s doing the exact same thing here.”
Oretegal and his wife created a home that is a premier destination for their large and ever growing family.
The couple have six children, 13 grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.
The couple’s house, specifically the upstairs, is perfect for children of all ages.
And when Bob and Kerre are not taking care of that, they immerse themselves into charity work, specifically with their Holidays and Heroes foundation that provides holiday assistance for military families.
About the only activity Ortegal can’t do these days is play tennis. An injury forced him to retire from the sport he loved.
Everything works.
He’s in a good place.
As far as anything else, they’re a point of reference. Not a place residence.
