The Dallas Mavericks basketball club is often abbreviated as the Mavs. Throughout its history, the team has consisted of the best athletes who have repeatedly demonstrated their skills and won world-class competitions. The club’s players have won the division championship four times, the conference championship twice and in 2011 received the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) championship award. Read more on i-dallas.
The history of the Mavs
The Mavs’ predecessor in Dallas was the Dallas Chaparrals, a basketball club that played in the United States Basketball Association. However, in 1973, the club was moved to San Francisco under the newly minted name of the San Antonio Spurs. In 1979, entrepreneurs Don Carter and Norm Sonju brought an NBA team to Dallas, Texas. The following year, at the NBA All-Star Game, the league’s owners decided to create a new Dallas basketball club, which the brought team became.
The team’s name is said to be related to the popular 1957-1962 TV series Maverick. It was voted for by 4,600 fans who sent postcards with their proposal. However, one of the team’s co-owners was the actor James Garner, who played the main role in the series. So this could be the reason why the basketball club got this name.
Initially, the newly formed Dallas team joined the Western Conference’s Midwest Division. This caused a major restructuring of not only the Midwest Division, but also the Central Division. Subsequently, the Mavs were relegated to the Southwest Division. Dick Motta became the first and head coach of the team. He was known as a specialist because under his patronage, the Washington Wizards basketball team became the champion of the NBA in 1977. Motta had a reputation as a demanding coach, a stickler for order and a legendary mentor.
In the 1980s, the Mavs were famous for their strong roster, which was superior to other quite professional competitors in the Western Division. In those years, Sam Perkins, Detlef Schrempf, Derek Harper, Mark Aguirre, Brad Davis and others were considered the best players of the team. Between 1983 and 1990, the Mavs reached the playoffs six times and won the division championship in one of the seasons. They also reached the Western Conference finals in 1988. The Mavs were defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers.
Periods of ups and downs of the Mavs
The 1990s are generally considered a dark page in the history of the Mavs basketball club. From 1991 to 2000, the team did not reach the playoffs and remained at the bottom of the standings. The team’s performance in the 1992-1993 season was poor (11 wins against 71 losses). As for the 1993-1994, there were 13 wins and 69 losses.
The Mavs’ decline in success was attributed to a large number of mistakes on the court and problems off it. Roy Tarpley, one of the most important players, used drugs. Because of this, he was banned from the NBA. The team’s coach, Quinn Buckner, was suspended due to numerous injuries.
It was only in the mid-1990s that the team managed to win several awards. They are called positive moments in the form of three Js. Jamal Mashburn, Jason Kidd and Jim Jackson were working on the team’s development at the time. The basketball players managed to make at least some breakthroughs during the club’s long decline. The most famous of the three was Jason Kidd. He managed to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award and became a perennial player in the NBA All-Star Game.
Three other athletes took over the Mavs in the 2000s, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley. Their names are associated with the beginning of the best times for the club. In addition, the team’s owner and coach also changed. In the 2001 season, the Mavs returned to the playoffs. In 2003 they became conference finalists. The only team to defeat the Mavs in those days was the San Antonio Spurs.
The 2006-2007 season is considered the best in the history of the Dallas basketball team. Back then, they managed to win 67 games under the mentorship of new coach Rick Carlisle. The team consisted of some former athletes (Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry) as well as new members, Caron Butler, José Juan Barea, Shawn Marion and others.
Mavs players’ uniforms
Like all other basketball teams, the Mavs players have their own uniforms. Throughout the history of the club’s existence and development, it has changed its color and signature.
Immediately after their appearance in the sports arena, the Mavs wore navy blue away uniforms with green trim. However, it was only the first season. The following year, the blue color was replaced by green. It remained the main color of the team until the early 1990s. In the 1992-1993 season, it was decided to return the team to the color of the uniform with which it debuted. The Dallas inscription remained unchanged during this time.
In the early 2000s, the Mavs had a clear understanding of the distinction between home and away uniforms. For regular training sessions, the players wore white shorts and green trimmed jerseys. The top had a blue Mavs inscription. The away uniforms looked as similar as possible to those worn by the team in the 1980s.
In 2002, the Mavs were inspired by the image of the Dallas Cowboys football team to make a dramatic change to their appearance and logo. The basketball club decided to keep the Dallas inscription on both its home and away uniforms. The home uniforms had blue letters, and the away uniforms had white letters.
The last time the basketball club’s uniform was changed was in 2011. Its main color became blue, and the number remained silver with the inscription Mavs below it.
Dallas is the hottest team of our time
Ukrainian and foreign media often write about Dallas as the best and hottest team of our time. Despite the fact that the basketball club regularly faces high expectations from their game, they still manage to win the hearts of fans time and time again. In 2023, the team included the best duo in the basketball league: Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić.
But even with all the success of the team in recent years, former players continue to be the most popular. In 2022, the owners of the Mavs decided to retire the number 41, as Dirk Nowitzki once wore it. On January 5, before the match against Golden State, a solemn tribute to the legendary player was held. The basketball player ended his career in 2019, but this could not erase the athlete from the hearts of his fans.
Residents of Dallas have taken the initiative to immortalize the career path of their favorite basketball player by renaming one of the city’s streets, located next to the Mavs arena, in his honor.
During one of his speeches in 2018, the mayor of the city could not help but mention the Mavs. He expressed his admiration for those team players who, despite all their success, continued to invest in the development of one basketball club. This shows that the priority for the Mavs has always been not financial gain, but the improvement of their favorite sport.