Dallas Mavericks

Dallas Mavericks, also known as the Mavs is a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas, USA. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Founded in 1980, the Mavericks have won three division titles (1987, 2007, 2010) and two conference championships (2006, 2011). According to a 2011 Forbes Magazine report, they are the sixth most valuable basketball franchise in the United States, valued at approximately $438 million; the franchise is surpassed in value only by the New York Knicks, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Chicago Bulls, the Boston Celtics, and the Houston Rockets.

Uniforms

During their expansion season of 1980–81, the Mavericks road uniform colors were royal blue with green and white trim, but the green and blue were reversed one season later, and green was the dominant road uniform color through the early-1990s. However, in the 1992-93 season, they were reverted back to their original road uniform scheme from their expansion season, with minor alterations to the "Dallas" script, a design that the Mavericks used until 2001. From 1980-2001, the home white uniforms had "Mavericks" in blue, with green and white trim, with a few minor alterations to the "Mavericks" script during the 1990s. The 1980s green road jerseys were revived in the 2004-05 season as part of the Mavericks' 25th anniversary.

In the 2001–02 NBA season, the Mavericks drastically updated their logos and uniforms, with a new color scheme of midnight blue, royal blue and silver. The new uniforms consist of a "Dallas" script on both the home and road jerseys. On the home jersey, "Dallas" is in midnight blue across the chest and the numbers are in royal blue with silver trim, while on the road jersey, "Dallas" is in white, with the numbers in silver and white trim.

In the 2003–04 NBA season, the Mavericks debuted their shiny silver alternate uniforms, with "Mavericks" in white and royal blue trim, with blue numerals. However, it proved to be unpopular with fans (thus derisively nicknamed the 'Trash Bags'), and it was scrapped after just one game (at Lakers on October 28, 2003).

In the 2004–05 NBA season, the Mavericks introduced an alternate green uniform similar to their 1980s road uniforms. They were designed by rapper Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, and featured "Mavs" in white on the front side of the jersey with blue trim, and the numbers in silver with white trim above the script on the left chest.

On September 21, 2009, the Mavericks unveiled a new alternate royal blue uniform with the same "Mavs" script, replacing the green uniform. The said uniform will also be used for the NBA's Noche Latina promotion, with the wordmark "Los Mavs.

On August 19, 2010, the Mavericks unveiled yet another change to their uniform set, with a new royal blue road uniform that displays the "Dallas" script in navy blue with silver numbers, both with white trim. The alternate royal uniform and has been deactivated as a result and this new uniform has replaced the midnight blue one as the main road jersey. However the 'Los Mavs' uniforms are still in use despite the change.

Head coaches

There have been nine head coaches for the Mavericks franchise. The franchise's first head coach was Dick Motta, who served for two non-consecutive stints, and coached for nine seasons with the Mavericks. Motta is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games coached (738); Don Nelson, Donnie Nelson's father, is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season game wins (339); Avery Johnson is the franchise's all-time leader for the most playoff games coached (47), the most playoff-game wins (23), and the highest winning percentage in the regular season (.735). Nelson is also named one of the top 10 coaches in NBA history. Johnson is the only coach to have ever won the Western Conference championship, but lost the 2006 NBA Finals to the Miami Heat. Johnson is also the only Mavericks coach to have won the NBA Coach of the Year Award, having won it in the 2005–06 season. Quinn Buckner and Jim Cleamons have spent their entire NBA coaching careers with the Mavericks. None of the Mavericks coaches have been elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach. Rick Carlisle has been the head coach of the Mavericks since 2008.

vs. San Antonio Spurs

The Mavericks-Spurs rivalry is relatively new but very fierce. It features two teams with Dallas roots—the Spurs began their life in the ABA as the Dallas Chaparrals and did not move to San Antonio until 1973. In the playoffs the Spurs defeated the Mavericks in 2001, 2003, and 2010; while the Mavericks defeated the Spurs in 2006 and 2009. The Spurs have won four championships and four conference titles, while the Mavericks have won two conference titles. The Spurs have won 15 division titles, while the Mavericks have won 2. Both the Spurs and the Mavericks have 3 60-win seasons.

The two teams met in the playoffs during the 2000–2001 season with the Spurs winning in five games. Little was made during this series, as the Spurs won their first NBA championship only two years before. The Mavericks, run by a trio of Steve Nash, Michael Finley, and Dirk Nowitzki, had just defeated the Utah Jazz despite not having home court advantage and were only starting to meld into a title contender.

The two teams met again in 2003 in the Western Conference Finals. Both the Spurs and the Mavericks had 60-win seasons and reached the Western Conference Finals after defeating the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings, respectively. Despite having the best season of their history, the Mavericks fell in six games to the Spurs.

vs. Phoenix Suns

During the 2004 off-season, former Dallas Mavericks point guard Steve Nash signed a free-agent deal with the 29–53 Phoenix Suns to help out their offense. The addition of Nash helped as Phoenix rolled to a 62-20 record and the best record in the NBA. The teams met in the Western Conference Semifinals with Phoenix having the home-court advantage.

Phoenix won Game One 127-102 with a 40-point game by Amar'e Stoudemire. Steve Nash was also given his NBA MVP award during that game, a game in which he terrorized his former team. However, Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki hit a game-winning turn-around jumper in Game 2 to beat Phoenix 108-106 to send the series back to Dallas tied 1–1. Phoenix and Dallas split the two games in Dallas which saw both winners of games score 119 points. The series went back Phoenix then took care of Dallas 114-108 in the America West Arena (now US Airways Center). Then, in Game Six, with Dallas facing elimination, Phoenix beat Dallas in a thriller which saw Steve Nash with a 39-point game, to go along with 12 assists. Phoenix then made it to the Western Conference Finals, where they eventually lost to the San Antonio Spurs who then went on to win the NBA Title that season.

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 1983–90, 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.