Dallas Mavericks - History

History

In 1979, businessman Don Carter and partner Norm Sonju requested the right to bring an NBA franchise to Dallas, Texas. The last professional basketball team in Dallas had been the Dallas Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association, which moved to San Antonio in 1973 to become the San Antonio Spurs.

At the 1980 NBA All-Star Game, league owners voted to admit the new team, with the team's name coming from the 1957–1962 TV western Maverick. The name was chosen by the fans with 4600 postcards received beating Wranglers and Express. James Garner, who played the namesake character, was a member of the ownership group. There was some controversy at the time since the University of Texas at Arlington also uses the Mavericks nickname. They joined the Midwest Division of the Western Conference, causing a divisional realignment with the Midwest and Central Divisions, and would stay there until the league went to six divisions for the 2004–05 season and the team moved to the Southwest Division. Dick Motta, who had guided the Washington Bullets to the NBA Championship in 1977–78, was hired as the team's first head coach. He had a well-earned reputation of being a stern disciplinarian, but was also a great teacher of the game.

Kiki Vandeweghe of UCLA was drafted by the Mavs with the 11th pick of the 1980 NBA Draft, but Vandeweghe refused to play for the expansion Mavericks and staged a holdout that lasted a month into the team's inaugural season. Vandeweghe was traded to the Denver Nuggets, along with a first-round pick in 1981, in exchange for two future first-round picks that eventually materialized into Rolando Blackman in 1981 and Sam Perkins in 1984.

For much of the 1980s, the Mavericks boasted a very good team in the highly competitive Western Conference. Led by Mark Aguirre, original draft pick Brad Davis, Rolando Blackman, Derek Harper, Sam Perkins and Detlef Schrempf, the Mavericks made the playoffs six of seven times from 1983 to 90, winning the Midwest Division in 1986–87 and reaching the Western Conference Finals in 1988. However, they never made it deeper in the playoffs, due to the dominance of the Los Angeles Lakers at the time.

The 1990s were known as the Mavs' "dark ages". They never reached the playoffs from 1991 through 2000, bottoming out with an 11–71 record in 1992–93 and a 13–69 mark in 1993–94. Much of their freefall was blamed for various off-court and on-court distractions, particularly Roy Tarpley's drug abuse, which eventually got him banned from the NBA, and the injuries and former coach Quinn Buckner's disciplinary approach. The mid-90s were considered the only positive period for the Mavs, led by The 3 J's: Jason Kidd, Jim Jackson and Jamal Mashburn. Kidd would become the most famous of the trio, winning Co-Rookie of the Year (with Grant Hill) in 1994–95 and eventually a perennial All-Star.

The Mavericks returned to prominence in the 2000s, first led by a new "Big Three" of Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley and Steve Nash. With a new owner in Mark Cuban and head coach Don Nelson leading the crew, they returned to the playoffs in 2001, eventually returning to the Conference Finals in 2003. However the San Antonio Spurs would emerge as their main rivals, defeating them in the playoffs each time. The Big Three gradually disbanded with Nash returning to the Phoenix Suns in 2004, and Finley picked up off waivers by the Spurs in 2005. Nowitzki emerged as the team's leader, and with Avery Johnson coaching the team, the Mavericks would make their first NBA Finals appearance in 2006; along the way exacting revenge against the Spurs and defeating Steve Nash and the Suns. However after leading 2–0 to the Miami Heat, they lost the Finals' next four games, though some point to biased refereeing and others argue it was the result of the "Curse of the Crease".

The Mavs' best regular season came in 2006–07, winning 67 games and earned the NBA's best record. Despite Nowitzki's MVP showing, the Mavericks were upset by their former coach Don Nelson and the 8th seeded Golden State Warriors in the 2007 NBA Playoffs. Kidd returned to the team in 2008, and with new coach Rick Carlisle leading the crew. As the 2010 season began, the Mavericks still had Nowitzki, Kidd and Jason Terry plus other pieces such as Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler, J.J. Barea and Caron Butler. They returned to the NBA Finals after winning 57 games, winning a close 6-game 1st round series against the Portland Trail Blazers; dethroning the NBA Champions of the past two years—the Los Angeles Lakers—in the Western Conference Semifinals (four-game sweep); and defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder in 5 games in the Western Conference Finals on home court in Dallas to win their second Western Conference Championship. The Mavs returned to the NBA Finals for a second time, creating a rematch of the 2006 NBA Finals against the Miami Heat.

In 2011, the Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat 4 games to 2 to win the NBA Finals. The series victory secured the first NBA Championship for the franchise in its 31-year history. Dirk Nowitzki was named the NBA Finals MVP.

The Mavericks have won 50 or more regular season games in 11 consecutive seasons, dating back to 2001—a stark contrast (and almost diametrically opposed) to the 10-season streak of losing seasons from the 1990–91 to the 1999–2000 season. With the condensed 2011-12 NBA season due to the lockout, the Mavericks were unable to win 50 games, thus ending their 11 consecutive season with 50 or more wins.