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Despite sending him to the Brooklyn Nets as part of the Kyrie Irving trade last February, the Dallas Mavericks have built a strong relationship with Dorian Finney-Smith.
The bond between the two sides has been so strong that the Mavericks assisted Finney-Smith in his quest to help secure his father's freedom.
On Wed., July 26, Dorian Finney-Smith's father, Elbert Smith Jr., was granted conditional freedom by the Virginia Parole Board after serving over 28 years in prison.
In an unexpected 3-0 ruling, the Virginia Parole Board voted to release Elbert Smith. A big part of the decision was Finney-Smith's assertion that his father would return to a stable home where he would have a job and a caring family.
Elbert Smith carried a prison sentence of 44 years for second-degree murder and malicious wounding.
He will now live with Finney-Smith's mother, Desiree, and cousin, Frank Smith, a retired police officer, in a home owned by Finney-Smith. Elbert will also participate in Finney-Smith's Finney Family First Foundation.
"I appreciate everything the Mavericks did behind closed doors, the whole situation," Finney-Smith said via Bleacher Report. "I'm always going to have love for Dallas and the organization."
"I'm just happy we could help," Dallas owner Mark Cuban told Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News. "We are indescribably appreciative to Mr. Kilgore and glad for Doe Doe [Finney-Smith's nickname] and his dad. Doe is a special guy. He deserves this."
How did the Dallas Mavericks help set Dorian Finney-Smith's father free?
In 1995, Elbert Smith and Diefen McGann attempted to collect a debt from Willie Anderson II, each bringing a handgun with them. A scuffle broke out, with Anderson trying to secure McGann's gun. Smith said he approached Anderson with a knife, and Anderson let go of McGann's gun.
McGann then fired three shots at Anderson, killing him. Both Smith and McGann were charged with first-degree murder. Though McGann pleaded down to voluntary manslaughter and served five years in prison.
On the contrary, Smith's lawyer recommended he didn't take that plea deal since he wasn't the one who fired the shots, instead taking the case to trial. Smith was convicted of second-degree murder and malicious wounding, which meant he would have to spend 44 years in prison.
Dorian Finney-Smith wanted to help his father prove his innocence and asked the Mavericks to help.
Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban and Mark Cuban Companies chief of staff Jason Lutin were the ones that significantly helped Finney-Smith with his father's case.
Lutin played a major role in the hearing, helping Finney-Smith prepare the legal case to help set his father free. The pair turned to former Virginia attorney general Jerry Kilgore, now a partner at law firm Cozen O'Connor, who agreed to take on the case pro bono.
"This was not really an easy decision for me because you look at the charge that’s on the record, and what Mr. Smith’s imprisoned for, you almost immediately want to just back away," Kilgore told The Dallas Times.
Finney-Smith was joined by the Mavs general manager Nico Harrison and Lutin at the hearing, while his former head coach Rick Carlisle attended the hearing virtually.
"Lutin's the GOAT; he's that dude," Finney-Smith told Townsend. "Jason told me, 'You're always family,' and he backed it up, for sure. He could have put it on the back burner, especially after I got traded."
Per Townsend, Cuban, Harrison and "other franchise leaders" all provided "written testimonials" during Smith's hearing, "all vouching for Finney-Smith's character."
"We didn’t even know if we would be able to be in the room, but that didn't matter. It was all about Dorian, for him to know that he didn't have to fly there by himself, that his team was there to support him.
"Obviously, we couldn’t say much about Dorian’s father because we don’t know him," he continued. "But we could talk about Dorian and the amazing human that he is, all the beautiful characteristics that make him Dorian," Harrison said via Bleacher Report.
It is also worth saying that the Virginia Parole Board had previously granted parole in only 23 of 1,255 cases it had considered in 2023, The Dallas Times note.
Overall, the help the Mavericks offered Dorian Finney-Smith for his father's case shows how much they appreciated him as a player and a human being.
Guess the Lakers players!
