DALLAS -- High-scoring Mark Aguirre, suspended by the Dallas Mavericks last week after a run-in with coach Dick Motta, has been reinstated, the team said Monday night.
Aguirre publicly apologized to Motta and the team following a three-hour meeting with the coach and team officials.
The forward had refused to play during the second half of a game last week against the Atlanta Hawks after squabbling with Motta.
Without Aguirre, the Mavericks suffered one-sided losses to Milwaukee and Cleveland. Dallas has lost seven of its last 10 games.
In addition to Motta and Aguirre, the Monday night meeting was attended by Mavericks general manager Norm Sonju, player personnel director Rick Sund and Aguirre adviser Dr. Charles Tucker.
'I suspended Mark and that was very serious,' said Motta. 'I'm convinced Mark is ready to play basketball. He has been reinstated.
'It was not a Dick Motta-Mark Aguirre feud. Whenever a player goes beyond the rules, appropriate action will be taken. And that is what happened in this case.
'The context of the meeting is 'in-house,' but I will say it was very productive. It was all in regard to improvement of basketball skills and techniques. The Mavericks showed videotapes of Aguirre in action to demonstrate to the players areas in which they felt he could improve.
'Mark will have a hard time finding an ememy at practice. I'm very satisfied he is ready to play,' Motta said.
Aguirre said he wanted to forget about the incident and get on with basketball.
'I, myself, really would like to extend an apology to coach Motta and the Dallas Mavericks basketball team,' he said. 'I was suspended for not abiding by some basketball rules that coach Motta and I had agreed upon earlier. Now that we have had the meeting, I feel good.
'I don't want to get into the workings of the meeting. I was wrong for the actions I took during half time of the Atlanta game. Everybody makes mistakes. I recognize my mistakes and apologized. What more can an individual do?'
