About Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at the American Airlines Center, which it shares with the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars.
Throughout the 1980s, the Mavericks were a perennial playoff team, led by All-Stars Rolando Blackman and Mark Aguirre. The team struggled during the 1990s, entering into a period of rebuilding. In 1998, the franchise's fortunes would change drastically with the acquisition of Dirk Nowitzki, who would become the cornerstone of the most successful period in franchise history, leading the team to its first and only NBA championship in 2011. The Mavericks later entered a rebuilding phase in the tail end of Nowitzki's storied career. They missed the playoffs in three consecutive years from 2017 to 2019, after which Nowitzki retired following his record-breaking 21st season with Dallas. Led by Luka Dončić, who was named the 2019 Rookie of the Year, the Mavericks returned to the playoffs in 2020 and reached the Western Conference finals in 2022 for the first time since their 2011 championship.
In February 2020, the Mavericks sold out their NBA-record 815th consecutive game, dating back to December 15, 2001. The sellout streak, which includes 67 playoff games, is the longest currently running in North American major league sports.
Since the Mavericks' inaugural 1980–81 season, the Mavericks have won five division titles , two conference championships , and one NBA championship .
In 1978, Californian businessman Garn Eckardt met Dallas lawyer Doug Adkins and mentioned he was trying to raise capital to move an NBA team to Dallas. Asking for a possible partner, Adkins recommended him one of his clients, Home Interiors and Gifts owner Don Carter. Negotiations with Eckardt fell through, but Carter remained interested in the enterprise as a gift to his wife Linda, who played basketball while at Duncanville High School. Simultaneously, Buffalo Braves president and general manager Norm Sonju developed an interest in bringing the NBA to Dallas as he studied possible new locations for the ailing franchise. While the Braves went to California as the San Diego Clippers, Sonju eventually returned to Texas. He was introduced to Carter by Mayor Robert Folsom, one of the owners and team president of the last professional basketball team in the city, the Dallas Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association, which moved to San Antonio in 1973 becoming the San Antonio Spurs. Sonju and Carter tried purchasing both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Kansas City Kings, but disagreement on relocation stalled the negotiations, leading them to instead aim for an expansion team.
The league was initially reluctant to expand to Dallas, given Texas had both the Spurs and Houston Rockets. The 1978–79 season was proving unprofitable and unpopular . Still, during the 1979 NBA All-Star Game weekend, NBA commissioner Larry O'Brien announced the league would add two new teams in the 1980–81 season, with teams in Dallas and Minneapolis. Once the potential Minnesota owners backed out, only Dallas remained. Through negotiations with general counselor and future commissioner David Stern, the expansion fee was settled on $12.5 million. Carter would provide half the amount.
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