Dallas Mavericks

Team information

• Inaugural season: 1980
• Home arena: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
• Owner: Miriam Adelson, Patrick Dumont
• Team colors: Royal blue, navy blue, silver, and black

Overview

The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team that plays in the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Western Conference. The Mavericks entered the league in 1980 and found success relatively quickly, making the playoffs five consecutive years during the mid-1980s. The 1990s were difficult for Dallas as the team posted one of the worst seasons in NBA history in 1992–1993 and failed to make the postseason during the decade. The team’s fortunes began to turn around at the start of the twenty-first century with the arrival of star forward Dirk Nowitzki and the sale of the team to Mark Cuban. On the court, Nowitzki powered Dallas to fifteen playoff appearances in sixteen years and an NBA title in 2011. Off the court, the outspoken Cuban enthusiastically promoted the franchise and proved willing to spend money to improve the team. Cuban sold the Mavericks in 2023 for $3.5 billion.

History

The history of professional basketball in Dallas began in 1967 when the Dallas Chaparrals arrived as a charter member of the American Basketball Association. However, the team struggled to attract fans in Dallas and moved to San Antonio in 1973. The Chaparrals were renamed the Spurs and eventually joined the NBA in 1976. A group of businessmen made an attempt to bring another team to Dallas in 1978, but that effort failed to get off the ground. In 1979, businessmen Don Carter and Norm Sonju—a former part-owner of the NBA’s Buffalo Braves—sought to relocate the Milwaukee Bucks or Kansas City Kings to Dallas; however, their attempts also fell though. Carter and Sonju instead switched their efforts toward attaining an expansion franchise for the city. Despite concerns that Dallas was not a financially viable market for a basketball team, the NBA granted the men a franchise for $12.5 million.

The owners sought fan input for a team name and eventually narrowed down the choices to Mavericks, Wranglers, and the Express. They settled on Mavericks, a term that describes both a fiercely independent person and a head of cattle that remains unbranded. Dallas began play in 1980–1981, and like most expansion teams, struggled to win in its inaugural season. The team continued to improve each year, and by 1983–1984, posted a 43–39 record and made the playoffs. Dallas made the postseason six times from 1984–1990 and even advanced to the Western Conference Finals in 1988.

Age and roster turnover began to take its toll on Dallas, and by the start of the 1990s, the team had plummeted to the bottom of the NBA. During the 1992–1993 season, the Mavericks posted an 11–71 record, the third-worst mark in NBA history. From November 1993 to January 1994, Dallas lost a record nineteen straight home games. The rest of the decade was little better as the Mavericks finished each season under .500 and no better than fourth in their division. Going into the 1998 NBA Draft, Dallas was coming off a twenty-win season and had the sixth overall pick. In the most impactful trade in franchise history, the Mavericks sent their pick to Milwaukee for the rights to German-born forward Dirk Nowitzki, who was selected ninth. As part of that same trade, the Mavericks also acquired point guard Steve Nash from the Phoenix Suns.

Another important milestone occurred two years later when the franchise was bought by Internet entrepreneur Mark Cuban for $280 million. Until he sold the team in 2023, the high-profile Cuban made himself a courtside fixture at Mavericks’ games and occasionally ran afoul of the NBA with his outspoken views and criticism of officials. However, Cuban also changed the attitude surrounding the team, investing millions of dollars into player salaries and team facilities. Soon after Cuban bought the team, the franchise changed its look, switching from a predominantly green and blue color scheme to its modern colors of blue, silver, and black. The Mavericks’ logo also changed from an “M” sporting a cowboy hat to a shield-like device featuring a horse on a blue basketball surrounded by the team name.

In the 2000–2001 season, Dallas began a streak of twelve straight playoff appearances during which time the team was among the best in the NBA. In December 2001, the franchise started another streak in which it sold out every home game until February 2020—an NBA record 815 straight games.

The Mavericks made the Western Conference Finals in 2003 and advanced to the NBA Finals in 2006. Dallas won the first two games in the 2006 series against the Miami Heat and held a thirteen-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game 3 before Miami rallied for an improbable victory. The Heat eventually won the series 4–2. During the 2006–2007 season, Dallas won sixty-seven games—the most in the NBA—and went into the playoffs as the top seed in the Western Conference. However, they were shocked in the opening round by the Golden State Warriors, the only time in NBA history that a number eight seed beat a number one seed in a seven-game series.

In 2010–2011, Dallas made another NBA Finals appearance, again facing the Miami Heat. The 2011 version of the Heat was a star-studded team that featured the game’s best player in LeBron James and fellow superstars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. This time, it was the Mavericks that pulled off the surprise, defeating the heavily favored Heat to win their first NBA championship. Dallas would go on to make the playoffs in four of the next five years, but with age starting to catch up to Nowitzki, the team did not advance out of the first round.

After Nowitzki retired in 2019, Dallas had several solid playoff seasons and even advanced to the Western Conference Finals in 2022.

Notable players

The Mavericks’ early success in the 1980s was driven by a trio of homegrown stars: Mark Aguirre, Derek Harper, and Rolando Blackman. Aguirre was the top overall pick by Dallas in the 1981 draft and played with the team until 1989. A three-time All-Star, Aguirre holds the franchise record for average points per game with 24.6 and stands second on its all-time scoring list with 13,930. Harper was drafted in 1983 and stayed with the Mavericks until 1994. He is fourth in franchise history with 12,597 points and holds team records for assists with 5,111 and steals with 1,551. Blackman was also selected by the Mavericks in the first round of the 1981 draft and made four All-Star teams until he left in 1992. His 16,634 points are second on the franchise all-time list.

Point guard Jason Kidd was drafted by Dallas in 1994 and won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. However, frustrated with the team’s losing, Kidd often clashed with the coaching staff and was traded during the 1996–1997 season. He returned to Dallas for a five-year stretch in 2007 and was part of the Mavericks’ 2011 championship squad. Over his nineteen-year career with multiple teams, Kidd contributed 12,091 assists, second-most all-time in NBA history. He made ten All-Star teams—three with Dallas—and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018. Steve Nash played with Dallas from 1998–2004, making two All-Star appearances with the team before returning to Phoenix via free agency. Nash won two NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards with the Suns and finished his career with 10,335 assists, third-most all-time. He joined Kidd as part of the 2018 Hall of Fame Class.

Dirk Nowitzki played his entire career with Dallas from 1998 to 2019. He is not only the greatest player in franchise history, but is also considered to be the top international player in NBA history. A fourteen-time All-Star and 2006–2007 league MVP, Nowitzki’s 31,560 career points are not only tops in Mavericks’ history, but are sixth all-time on the NBA list. He also holds franchise marks for games played with 1,522; rebounds with 11,489; and three-point field goals with 1,982. Nowitzki was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023.

In 2017–2018, the Mavericks won just twenty-four games and held the number five pick in the NBA Draft. In a shrewd draft-day move, they swapped picks with the Atlanta Hawks, acquiring Luka Doncic, a star with the Slovenian national team, with the second overall pick. Doncic soon became one of the NBA’s best players, winning the 2019 Rookie of the Year Award and making the All-Star team in 2020. Doncic made the All-Star team each year from 2020 to 2024. He proved himself to be one of the league's best players, with a career average by 2024 of 28.6 points per game, 8.6 rebounds a game, and 8.2 assists.

Bibliography

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