Former San Antonio high school sensation Eduardo Najera retired on Wednesday and will move on to positions with the Dallas Mavericks and their D-League affiliate Texas Legends.
Najera, who graduated from high school in Mexico before moving to Cornerstone Christian Academy in San Antonio to learn English and attract college coaches, became a big-name player at the University of Oklahoma.
Najera became the first Mexican player to be drafted into the NBA in 2000 by the Dallas Mavericks. Najera, who was a San Antonio favorite and a player most Spurs fans wanted to be drafted here before he was scooped up by the rival Mavs, quickly flipped the script and became a pesky, and sometimes dirty defender who was often called on to defend Tim Duncan in his many NBA stops.
Tim Duncan famously said Najera entered a game with the Mavs once just to hurt Manu Ginobili, and after getting a flagrant foul call and being ejected in his first minute of the game, not many Spurs fans would disagree.
So Najera now exits stage left as a villain and not only will he become the Legends coach, but he is also now a minority owner of the team and will hold a front office position with the Mavericks.
Najera will be stepping into some big shoes. He takes over a position that was recently held by Nancy Lieberman and Del Harris.
After being a rival to the Spurs throughout his career, Najera will be in a similar situation with the Legends being the rival of 2012 D-League Champion Austin Toros, who are the Spurs' affiliate.
