Symmetry in the Rafters: Mark Aguirre, Cooper Flagg, and the quiet case for number 24

A hero from the Reunion Rowdies era returns home.

On June 25, 2025, the Dallas Mavericks drafted Cooper Flagg with the number one overall pick—the first since Mark Aguirre.

And right on cue — as if time were bending back on itself — Aguirre walked through the doors of the AAC. He returned. Welcomed. Home.

For younger fans, the moment might’ve felt ceremonial. A nice nod. A gentle nostalgia beat. But for those who know? It meant more.

Because long before Luka, and even before Dirk, there was Mark Aguirre — one of the first faces of the franchise.

Drafted first overall in 1981 from DePaul, Aguirre averaged 24.6 points per game over seven seasons in Dallas. He scored 29.5 a night in his peak year — a mark that stood as the highest single-season average in Mavericks history until Luka Dončić’s 33.9 PPG campaign in 2023–24 rewrote the record book. Aguirre played a pivotal role in pushing the Magic Johnson-led Showtime Lakers to Game 7 of the 1988 Western Conference Finals.

And then… he was traded. Not because he couldn’t play. Not because he didn’t lead.

That is simply what happens sometimes in young franchises with growing pains and front office friction. They break what they don’t yet understand how to hold. Aguirre left for Detroit. He won a ring. And for decades, he stayed away.

Until now.

What is striking in that video was not just the applause. It was his voice. Grateful. Awestruck. Honest.

“I never thought this time would happen… I didn’t know how I’d get back.”

No bitterness. No score-settling. Just appreciation for having the hand extended from the franchise that never stopped feeling like home. And maybe that’s the part worth pausing on.

Because as the Mavericks stand at a franchise crossroads — with Luka gone, Dirk distanced, and a fractured fanbase squinting toward a hopeful future — there’s something quietly powerful about seeing Aguirre return.

Especially when the man with a statue outside the arena has only attended one Mavericks home game since the Luka trade — and it was the night Luka returned to Dallas with the Lakers. The silence is loud.

So maybe that’s why they called Mark. Not to paper over wounds, but to open a different kind of door. And if you’re asking the obvious question — why honor him now? — The answer is already in the rafters. Brad Davis. Rolando Blackman. Derek Harper. All foundational. All beloved. All players who, like Aguirre, built the bones of this franchise.

He wasn’t perfect. But he was ours. And he gave this team a scoring anchor, a swagger, and a shot at greatness before anyone had ever heard of Dirk or Luka or Flagg.

So no, retiring Mark Aguirre’s number wouldn’t fix everything. But it might do something else. It might remind people that this franchise knows how to remember. Knows how to honor. Knows how to say you mattered — even if the ending got messy.

If this is about goodwill, fine. If it’s about symmetry, better. But if it’s about finally recognizing a man who helped build the house, then there’s nothing performative about it.

Some rafters aren’t just structural. Some are emotional. And maybe, just maybe, it’s time 24 joined them.