OAKLAND, Calif. – The Mavs will never win a championship as long as Dirk Nowitzki remains their best player.

He proved it Thursday night when Baron Davis, Golden State's one-legged star, turned in a performance for the ages, while Nowitzki did nothing as the Mavericks became the first No. 1 seed in NBA history to lose to a No. 8 seed in a best-of-7 series.

Golden State 111, Dallas 86.

Can you say total embarrassment. Blame it on Nowitzki.

Avery Johnson and Mark Cuban disagree.

Too bad.

It's the truth. You know it is. Like spanking your kids, it hurts.

Sometimes, though, you need abject failure to spark change. The worst thing Johnson and Cuban can do is return the core of this team intact and believe its issues with mental toughness will fix themselves over a long, depressing summer.

They have two choices: continue to trust their meek superstar or do whatever it takes to get a tough-minded leader who's still at the top of his game in the locker room. And if they must trade Nowitzki, Josh Howard or Jason Terry to make it happen, then so be it.

This team, as it's currently constructed, doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to win a championship.

It starts with Nowitzki.

"No, not at all. Not even a little bit," said Cuban, when asked if he had any questions about Nowitzki's ability to lead the Mavericks.

"Anyone who suggests otherwise is a moron. You can print that."

Consider it done, but the question is legitimate.

With the Mavericks on the verge of elimination, Nowitzki needed to put the Mavericks on his back and carry them to victory. Instead, he had six points with 8:46 left in the game; the Mavericks trailed by 23.

LOUIS DeLUCA / DMN

Dirk Nowitzki couldn't lift the Mavericks out of the first round.

Nowitzki missed his first nine shots and didn't score his first basket until the final minute of the first half when Stephen Jackson fell down, giving him a wide-open shot.

He finished the first half with four points – eight players scored more – and showed none of the aggression he displayed in the Mavericks' Game 5 victory when he continually attacked the basket.

"I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform," Nowitzki said. "My expectations for myself are very high, and when I don't meet them, I'm going to be disappointed. I couldn't put my stamp on (this series) the way I wanted."

Meanwhile, Davis inspired his teammates after straining his right hamstring midway through the first quarter and heading to the locker room to get it treated. He returned in the second quarter with a noticeable limp that essentially stopped him from running or playing defense.

So what did Davis do? He scored 11 consecutive points during one stretch as the Warriors took a two-point halftime lead and finished with 20 points and six assists in 38 minutes.

Johnson praised Davis effusively. He talked about the way the point guard's toughness, confidence and desire impacted the Warriors. In this series, Davis was everything Johnson hoped Nowitzki would be, but wasn't.

Still, the Mavericks had an opportunity to regroup at halftime and get Nowitzki more involved. It never happened.

Nowitzki missed his only shot of the third quarter, and the Warriors started the half with a dominating burst that ended any hope of Dallas forcing a Game 7 and rallying from a 3-1 series deficit.

Let's be clear: This is one of the most embarrassing losses NBA history. See, it's one thing to lose, but it's quite another when a club that wins 67 games – tied for sixth most in league history - fails to compete in an elimination game.

Perhaps, we should not have been surprised.

The Mavericks talk about handling adversity and displaying mental toughness, but they lost four consecutive games in the NBA Finals last year after blowing a 13-point fourth quarter lead to Miami in Game 3.

And they never really recovered after losing Game 1 to Golden State. The Mavericks never seized control of the series.

You can talk about their Game 5 win, but the reality is they blew a 21-point first-half lead and needed a miracle finish to keep the Warriors from celebrating at American Airlines Center.

Again, it starts with Nowitzki.

The nine-year veteran, who averaged 24.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists in the regular season, is expected to win the league's MVP.

It will be a complete embarrassment.

No, it doesn't matter that the MVP is based on his superlative regular-season performance. The MVP is supposed to be a player who performs his best when the games matter most. True MVP's don't vanish with the season on the line.

Nowitzki will never live this down.

In six games against Golden State, Nowitzki imposed his will on the series once – a three-minute burst at the end of Game 5.

Now, he must live with this monumental failure. Trust me, the shame will never dissipate unless the Mavs win a championship.

Maybe.

Until the end of time, the 2007 Mavericks will be known as one of the softest teams in professional sports. A team devoid of character and heart, when it mattered most. It's a fitting moniker that starts with their best player.