Don Carter, 84, Who Brought the NBA to Dallas, Is Dead - New York Times

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Don Carter, center, with Ross Perot Jr., left, and Mark Cuban at a news conference in 2000, when Mr. Cuban took over the Dallas Mavericks. Mr. Carter had earlier sold his majority interest to a group led by Mr. Perot but kept a minority stake.Credit Donna McWilliam/Associated Press

Don Carter, who was instrumental in bringing the National Basketball Association to Dallas with the expansion Mavericks in 1980, died on Wednesday in Dallas. He was 84.

The Dallas County medical examiner confirmed the death but did not specify the cause.

Mr. Carter founded the Mavericks with Norm Sonju, the team's first president. He sold his majority interest to a group led by Ross Perot Jr. in 1996 but kept a minority stake.

The Mavericks were a model franchise in their early days, quickly becoming a contender and reaching the Western Conference finals in 1988 before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers.

When Dallas won its first (and only) championship in 2011, defeating the Miami Heat, Mark Cuban, who bought the team in 2000, invited Mr. Carter to celebrate with the team on the court in Miami. The N.B.A. commissioner, David Stern, handed the trophy to Mr. Carter, who was wearing his trademark white cowboy hat, part of the team's early logo.

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Mr. Carter and his wife, Linda, in center foreground, celebrate with the Mavericks after they won the N.B.A. championship in 2011 by defeating the Miami Heat in Miami.Credit Rhona Wise/European Pressphoto Agency

"I was touched, really touched," Mr. Carter said at the time. "I knew this day was going to come, but I just wondered if I was going to be in a wheelchair for it."

Mr. Carter remained a regular at courtside after selling the team, but he had been largely absent in recent months because of declining health. He was not there last month when the Mavericks retired the number of Derek Harper, who was among the early star players under Mr. Carter, along with Mark Aguirre and Rolando Blackman.

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