The Dallas Mavericks are a member of the National Basketball Association. They are an American professional team based in Dallas, Texas. The Mavericks compete in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association. While the team’s history is not the richest in the league, there are still a lot of very memorable eras since the team’s inception in 1980. Most of the team’s history comes from the past two decades. Currently, the team plays in American Airlines Arena. Interestingly this arena is also shared with Dallas’ professional hockey team, the Dallas Stars. Currently, they have one NBA championship. Their first and only NBA Championship came in the 2011 season.
Beginnings of the Dallas Mavericks
The idea that would end up becoming the Dallas Mavericks came to be in 1978 and was thought up by a California businessman named Garn Edkart who met with a lawyer from Dallas named Doug Atkins. The reason for this meeting was to try to come up with an idea to get enough money together to create and establish a team to join the National Basketball Association in Dallas.
The lawyer thought that one of his clients would be interested in the business venture, but negotiations would eventually fall through. However, that client, Don Carter, and his wife who played basketball in high school would remain committed to bringing an NBA team to their home city. Although the National Basketball Association would be very hesitant to bring an expansion team to Dallas as the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets were already established in the state of Texas. However, the league eventually league owners voted and gave in to grant Carter and his wife their wish. Carter would end up forking up $12.5 million to join the league.
The team was named after the popular television show, Maverick. The name was decided through a fan voting contest over other names like the Wrangles and the Express. James Garner who played the leading role in Maverick was interestingly also a member of the original ownership group of the Dallas Mavericks.
Dick Motta was signed to be the team’s first head coach. Their first draft selection as a franchise was Kiki VanDeWeghe with the 11th pick of the 1980 NBA draft. However, he refused to play for the franchise and this led to a holdout that lasted over a month. Eventually, the Dallas Mavericks would cave and trade him and a first-round pick to the Denver Nuggets.
In return, the Dallas Mavericks would receive two first-round picks. Those picks would turn into Rolando Blackman and Sam Perkins. At the time it may have appeared that the Dallas Mavericks lost this deal. However, all three players would go on to have long careers, however, Blackman led all players involved in the deal with four All-Star appearances to VanDeWeghe’s two appearances and Perkins’ zero appearances.
In the first game in Reunion Arena and the first game in team history, the Dallas Mavericks defeated the San Antonio Spurs by a final score of 103-92. This was a perfect season opener for the expansion franchise in their first season. Although the first game of the year went well for the Dallas Mavericks, the rest of the regular season would not. This season, the Mavericks finished the regular season with a record of 15-67 and would obviously not experience their first playoff berth this season.
The 1981 draft would end up being one of the most important in team history. The Dallas Mavericks landed three players in this draft that would end up going on to play big roles for the franchise for years to come. The three players they selected were Mark Aggurire (first overall), Rolando Blackman (ninth overall), and Jay Vincent (twenty-fourth overall). The Dallas Mavericks would win more regular-season games this season with their young core and would improve to a record of 28-54 and for the first time in team history, the team finished above last place in their division.
In the following season, the Dallas Mavericks missed the playoffs. Only finishing seven games behind the Nuggets for the sixth and final playoff spot. In this season, point guard Brad Davis finished 10th in the NBA in assists, averaging 7.2 per game. Along with this, Mark Aguirre led the Dallas Mavericks in points, averaging 24.4 points per game (sixth in the NBA), Jay Vincent averaged 18.7 points per game, and Rolando Blackman averaged 17.7 points per game.
Contending Years
In the 1983 NBA draft, the Dallas Mavericks would go on to select Derek Harper. In this season, the Dallas Mavericks would have their first winning season in the history of the franchise. Along with this, they made their first playoff appearance. Mark Aguirre was also named to the All-Star game. The Dallas Mavericks finished fourth in the Western Conference this season and knocked the Seattle Supersonics out of the first round in five games. In the second round, they were bounced by the Los Angeles Lakers in five games. However, this was a monumental season for the franchise as it was their first NBA playoff series and series win in team history.
The Dallas Mavericks owned the rights of the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ first-round pick in this draft and it ended up being the fourth overall selection. With that pick, they chose Sam Perkins.
Blackman made an All-Star appearance this season and the Mavericks once again made the playoffs. They were less successful in the postseason this year and were bounced in four games in their first playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers.
The following season, the Mavericks would once again make the playoffs, and Rolando Blackman would once again represent the team in the All-Star game. This season, the Dallas Mavericks were once again bounced from their first-round playoff series in four games.
In the following season after a change at head coach, the Dallas Mavericks would go on to have their deepest playoff run in the history of the franchise up to this point. The Mavericks won in four games against the Rockets, six games against the Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals, however, they were still not a match for the Lakers and would fall to them in seven games in the Western Conference Finals.
Things would come to an ugly end for the Mavericks as their consistent run of relevance would come to an end in the 1989-1990 season. Despite many off-the-court issues coming from the team, they were still able to pull things together and still make a playoff appearance this season. Despite this, they would be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Portland Trail Blazers in only three games. This would be the final time the Mavericks would make the playoffs until the 2001 season.
Injuries and Rebuilding
This would end up being a very ugly era for the Mavericks that consisted of injuries and blunders from the front office. Things will be skipped over during this era as they did not end up being franchise-defining moves and this was an era that many Mavericks fans would rather remain left in the dark.
The Mavericks began this era by losing Sam Perkins in free agency to the Lakers and in response, the Mavs would add former big names to the roster that were well past their prime. This led to many of the players who were depended on to lead the team winding up being injured. Along with this, Roy Tarpley would encounter a driving while intoxicated, driving while suspected to be intoxicated, and a resisting arrest charge during this era. This would culminate in him being banned from the league after violating the league’s substance-abuse protocols three times. Nothing good came from the Mavericks in this era, however, the constant losing would set them up with the draft picks that would fuel their next push for contention.
The Three J’s Era
There were three major draft picks the Mavericks made that would make them relevant once again. Those picks being Jim Jackson, Jamal Mashburn, and Jason Kidd. This big three of sorts made the Mavericks a very talented and versatile team. Along with this, Tarpley was allowed to make his return to the Mavericks this season after missing some time due to his ban from the league.
Mashburn was injured in the 1996-1997 season and Tarpley would fail another drug test banning him for life from the league and this time he would never return. With two guards trying to run the team, it led to constant bickering between Kidd and Jackson.
The following season saw a lot of roster turnover for the Mavericks. 27 different players would end up playing for the organization throughout the course of this season (setting an NBA record at the time). The first big move that came this season sent Jason Kidd, Loren Meyer, and Tony Dumas to the Phoenix Suns for Michael Finley, Sam Cassell, and A.C. Green. Also, Chris Gattling, Jim Jackson, Sam Cassell, George McCloud, and Eric Montross were sent to the New Jersey Nets for Shawn Bradley, Ed O’Bannon, Khalid Reeves, and Robert Pack. All of these moves were deemed necessary by the new general manager for the Mavericks as he said the locker room situation at the time was unacceptable and could go on no longer.
Dirk Nowitzki and Mark Cuban Join the Team
The 1991 season was another rough one for the Mavericks. However, they had added Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash to the team. Although it did not seem like very substantial moves at the time, these players would end up playing an enormous impact on the Mavericks’ history for years to come.
Another big move came in the form of a change in management. The old group would sell to then season ticket holder Mark Cuban. The Dallas Mavericks owner, Cuban, has done an incredible job in his position. He was a new style of ownership that in a way was player first. He quickly made headlines for allowing his player Dennis Rodman for staying in his house for a week.
Big Three of Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, and Jermichael Finley
The Mavericks would make the playoffs in the 2000-2001 season with an incredible triangle offense comprised of Nash, Nowitzki, and Finley. Dirk was named to the All-NBA Third Team this season and the Mavericks finished with a record of 53-29. They made it to the Western Conference Semifinals before being eliminated by the Spurs. In this season, they would leave Reunion Arena and move into American Airlines Arena.
In the following offseason, the Mavericks would send Juwan Howard, Tim Hardaway, and Donnell Harvey to the Nuggets for Raef LaFrentz, Nick Van Exel, Tariq Abdul-Wahad, and Avery Johnson. Along with this, the Mavs made moves to try to sign Karl Malone to the team. In the following season, the Mavericks would advance once again to the Western Conference Semifinals, however, they were bounced in the second round by the Sacramento Kings.
The Mavericks finally broke through in the following season and it seemed as if they were set to make their first NBA Finals appearance, however, their run would be unfortunately cut short. With the Western Conference Finals tied 1-1, Dirk would suffer a knee injury that would keep him sidelined for the remaining of the Series against the Spurs. Without their best player on the court, the Mavericks stood no chance and would end up being eliminated by the Spurs.
Nash would eventually leave the Mavericks through free agency and the Mavericks would not make it past the second round of the playoffs again in this era.
Franchise’s First Finals Appearance
The 2006 season would end up being a monumental one for the Dallas Mavericks. Up to this point, the Mavericks were stuck trying to keep neck and neck with the San Antonio Spurs who at this point were in the middle of their dynasty-like run.
The Mavericks faced off against Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O’Neal, and the Miami Heat in this NBA Finals matchup. The Mavericks realistically could have and should have won this series. It went to six games and the Mavericks more or less beat themselves in two of those games. The self-destruction of the team on two separate occasions was something that was not only hard for fans to watch but hard for the players to play through.
One game was lost on a missed free throw from Dirk and the other was lost on missed free throws and a misused timeout from Josh Smith. In their frustrations, plenty of fines were handed out to the Mavs. This included $5000 from Dirk for kicking a ball into the stands and $250,000 to Mark Cuban for “several acts of misconduct”.
Although they missed their ultimate goal of winning the NBA Finals, for the first time, the Mavericks captured a win in the Western Conference Finals and made it to their first NBA championship.
The Era of Contending and an NBA Championship
The Mavericks would not end up making the Finals again until 2011. Until then, Nowitzki was named the Most Valuable Player in the 2006-2007 season. Jason Kidd would rejoin the team in the 2007-2008 season. The Mavericks would have very embarrassing falls from grace in the 2008-2010 seasons.
This would all lead up to the 2011 season which would end up being one of the most impressive playoff runs we have seen from a single team in the history of the NBA. They defeated Brandon Roy and the Portland Trail Blazers 4-2 in the first round. In the second round, they swept Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and the Lakers. In the following season, they would defeat the team that would end up winning the Western Conference in the following season, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Although this was a young Thunder team, they were extremely talented and featured Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and James Harden. Finally, they took down one of the best teams ever constructed in the NBA Finals, the Miami Heat. Coming into the series, it was thought that the Mavericks stood no chance against the Big Three in Miami, however, the Mavericks forced LeBron James into an awful Finals series that still haunts his legacy to this day. This was an incredible postseason run for the Mavericks and many think of Dirk winning this ring as one of the most impressive achievements that a star has ever pulled off.
Era of Decline Following an NBA Championship
Following their championship, there was not much left for the Mavericks. They were a veteran-led team that did not have too much gas left in the tank. As a result of this, after they pulled it all together to go on their incredible championship run, they did not have enough left to continue to go on deep playoff runs.
Along with this, the Heat and Spurs would go on to continue the remainder of Nowitzki’s prime in the league. Dirk would remain on the roster until his eventual retirement in the 2018-2019 season. He remained a great leader and veteran for the Mavericks and not only a fan favorite of Dallas fans but one of the most generally loved players the league has seen.
Dirk would eventually retire after 20 seasons of playing exclusively with the Mavericks. It was truly admirable to see a player of Dirk’s stature dedicate his entire playing career to one franchise and it made him a legend to the people of Dallas.
Before his retirement, Dirk passed the torch of the Dallas Mavericks to another European phenom named Luka Doncic.
Luka Doncic Era/ How the Team Looks Today
Before he retired, Dirk passed the torch of the leader of Dallas to Doncic, and up to this point, he has not disappointed. Although they had not had an incredible amount of playoff success in the Luka Doncic era, he has emerged as one of the top players in the entire league only a few seasons into his career. He is a natural and elite scorer and one of the top young passers in the NBA. His transition to the league was seamless and it was clear that the Mavericks had something special on their hands early in his rookie season.
The Mavericks are in very good hands with Doncic on the roster, they must now focus on bringing in another star player to put alongside him.
NBA Finals Appearances
The Dallas Mavericks have only made the NBA Finals two times in league history. Their first appearance came in the 2006 season in which they played the Miami Heat. This Heat team featured an incredible duo of Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade. The Mavericks lost this series in a respectable six games.
The second NBA Finals appearance and one NBA championship for the Mavericks in league history came in the 2011 season. It was their first-ever NBA title as a franchise. It was an incredible run and would end up being the only championship that Nowitzki and up to this point the Dallas Mavericks have won at this time.
Years the Dallas Mavericks Won the NBA Championship
The first NBA Championship that the Dallas Mavericks won in the NBA Finals came in the 2011 season. This was one of the most impressive playoffs runs that the league has ever seen. At this time, the Dallas Mavericks were a team with a single workhorse and a plethora of quality role players stuck in a big three and dynamic duo era that led opposing teams’ lineups to be much more loaded with big names and top-heavy than the Mavericks. In this playoff run, the Mavericks defeated Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol on the Los Angeles Lakers, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden on the Oklahoma City Thunder, and LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh on the Miami Heat. The Mavericks won those series in four games, five games, and six games respectively. Taking care of some of the best teams of the era that easily is something that spoke volumes to Nowitzki and the rest of the Dallas Mavericks on the roster at the time.
