We have been friends going back to elementary school, golfing buddies since our days teeing it up for the Richardson High School Eagles. And as a group of uber-talented kids from our alma mater put on show after show in early 2022, I could always count on a text from my good friend Dave Goscin.
“You’re going tonight, right?” he would type.
MapQuest tells me it’s only 17 miles from my home in Kessler Park to the old stomping grounds on Belt Line Road, but rush-hour traffic on a Tuesday or Friday afternoon can turn a seemingly uneventful drive into, well, you know. As much as I wanted to witness next-level hoops while reminiscing and breaking bread with old friends (and sharing the occasional postgame beer), I hesitated to jump behind the wheel. But Dave was relentless.
“What we’re watching is special,” he would say. “We have to go. We don’t want to look back and have any regrets.”
Dave is ever the salesman–he has made a career of it–but he was right. With $3 ticket prices (senior citizen rate!), free parking, 80-minute games that usually featured a fourth-quarter flurry of highlight-reel passes and dunks, was there a better bargain to be found for a band of sports junkies?
Cason Wallace was the headliner, and today I’m trying to wrap my head around the fact that Cason Wallace is now an NBA champion. On Sunday, under the immense pressure of a Game 7 slugfest, he contributed 10 points and three steals in 26 minutes. Five of those points came on consecutive possessions late in the third quarter after the Pacers had pulled to within six: a three-pointer from the corner and a contested layup. It was Cason doing Cason things, just as he had done so many times at RHS.
Was it really just three years ago that we were watching him dazzle on the high school hardwood? It was what Dave had been talking about. Cason was a star in the making. How lucky were we to have front-row seats?
He was a silky smooth guard, a McDonald’s All-American who would be named the Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Texas. He could score pretty much whenever he pleased, but he took as much pleasure in getting his teammates involved. Oh, and playing suffocating defense. As Eagles coach Kevin Lawson told me, when your star is buying in on the defensive end, in practice, no less, it sets the tone. You want more minutes? Watch how Cason plays defense.
Kentucky was his dream school, and when he finished with 15 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and a couple of steals in his college debut, I could hardly contain my glee. Remarkably, he looked like the same player we had watched at RHS–fluid and unfazed by it all. Cason made it no secret he would be a one-and-done, and sure enough, he was a lottery pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, slipping on a cap for an ever-brief time as a member of the Mavericks, in fact. “Cason’s a Maverick!” someone in our group chat texted, only to discover he would soon be on his way to Oklahoma City in a post-draft trade.
He appeared in all 82 regular-season games as a rookie, and after a win over the Mavs in Game 4 of the 2024 Western Conference finals, I texted Lawson: “Have you wiped the smile off your face after watching Cason dominate the fourth quarter of an NBA playoff game as a 20-year-old rookie?” Wallace had scored a half-dozen points, mind you. Yes, he had made that big of an impact on the other end of the floor.
“I’ve never looked up more social media stuff so I could read all the praises for him,” came Lawson’s reply.
This season, Cason grew into (and understood) his role on the NBA’s best and deepest team. Injuries limited him to 68 games, but he started 43 of them. He was at his best, however, coming off the bench. He averaged a modest 8.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists while playing more than 27 minutes per game. Now, about that defense: he finished third in the league with 1.8 steals per game, showing there’s a place in the league for a player who loves to do the dirty work.
That’s not to say he wasn’t without his offensive highlights, notably a posterization of three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic in a Game 7 win over the Nuggets. “Goodness!” I texted Lawson along with a video. Yeah, he had done these things at RHS, but now he was doing it at the game’s highest level. He moved into the starting lineup for the first three games of the NBA Finals, often drawing the assignment of defending Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton. We were watching. During the first quarter of Game 3, one guy in our group chat texted, “Haliburton’s first shot comes at the six-minute mark after Cason subs out.”
Having returned to his reserve role, in a pivotal Game 5, he hit three of four shots from deep and delivered a momentum-changing steal and dunk after the Pacers had pulled to within five in the fourth quarter. In a mere 17 minutes, he finished with 11 points, two rebounds and a block. And four steals, for good measure. The ABC announce crew marveled at his energy and awareness. He was all over the floor.
When I texted D Magazine colleague Mike Piellucci, citing Cason’s stats and wondering what he had to do to get more minutes, he replied, “He’s about to get a ring. He’ll be OK.”
And now he has one, about four months shy of his 22nd birthday.
Cason hasn’t forgotten his roots. He returned for a summer clinic at RHS before his rookie season and has practiced with the Eagles each of the past two Septembers. When his side lost, he ran his “punishment,” as is custom at a Lawson practice. Picture that: a first-round NBA draft pick running sprints with high school kids. “It was awesome!” Lawson said in a text. Cason treated the Eagles to a game against the Mavericks in Dallas and hosted Lawson and his family for another game in Oklahoma City.
As confetti rained down on Cason and his teammates and after the Larry O’Brien Trophy had been presented, I texted Dave.
“You were right,” I said. “We were so lucky to witness what we did.”
Dave acknowledged my text with a heart emoji and then replied: “Appreciate you hanging with me during Eagles basketball.”
And if Cason returns for another practice at Richardson High? Maybe, just maybe, I’ll make the trek to the gym on Belt Line Road. I’ll insist that Dave join me.