The Greatest Championship Never Remembered
The Story of a Forgotten NBA team
It’s been a busy couple of weeks for me with school midterms, but after a 15-day hiatus, Around the Associations has returned. So, without further ado, enjoy the article, and expect more work soon.
Winning a championship is no easy feat. That’s why it’s considered the most sought-after achievement in sports. 6 months ago, James Harden took a $14M pay cut in order to leave room for the 76ers to sign more pieces to help win them a ring. Heck, Tom Brady chose football over his marriage, in some regard. Winning a championship also weighs on a person’s legacy more than any statistical feat. Sure, Karl Malone is in third (it feels weird not to say second) place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, but without a championship, he will never be considered in the upper echelon of the sport’s greatest. The same goes for his partner in crime, John Stockton, all-time triple-double leader, Russell Westbrook, plus Allen Iverson, Elgin Baylor, Steve Nash, and so many others. There’s one player in modern NBA history that seems to be forgotten even though he accomplished the most difficult feat in the NBA in the most difficult fashion. His name? Dirk Nowitzki. And his team? The Dallas Mavericks.
When you think of the champions since 2000, you immediately think of four teams. First, the Lakers, led by Shaquille O’Neal in 2000, 2001, and 2002, and the Kobe Bryant-led Lakers in 2009, and 2010. The second team that comes to mind is not a team. It is a player. His name is LeBron James, and he won the NBA Championship in 2012, 2013, 2016, and 2020 (Heat, Cavaliers, and Lakers). There are the Warriors, who took the crown in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022, and, finally, the San Antonio Spurs, spurred, if you will, by Tim Duncan and Tony Parker to the championship in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014. Of course, you can’t forget about Dwyane Wade’s famous win in 2006, and Kawhi Leonard’s furious chase to a ring in 2019. Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 50-point game 6 cements the Bucks 2021 championship in the rafters as one of the best of the 21st century. The Celtics' 17th ring in 2008 was against the Lakers, and, thus, will always have importance in the grand scheme of basketball history. Perhaps the 2nd most forgettable year was 2004 when Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton captained Pistons beat the Lakers 4-1. But for some reason, perhaps because Nowitzki is foreign, or because they weren’t the flashiest team with the flashiest colors, the Mavericks championship is always forgotten. I asked a few friends of mine to name every NBA champion since 2000, and the 2011 Mavs were said the least, with the 2004 Pistons in a close second. So, I reckon it’s time to pay some respect to that Mavericks team, a team that defied the odds until the very end.
Round One: 4-2 vs Trail Blazers
Coming into this round, Dallas had nine more wins than Portland but was still given just the sixth-best championship odds (Bulls, Heat, Celtics, Spurs, and Lakers). The Trail Blazers boasted an eventual 7-time all-star in LaMarcus Aldridge, along with double-digit scorers, Gerald Wallace, Nicolas Batum, Brandon Roy, Andre Miller, and Wesley Matthews. With the series tied at 2-2, the Mavs beat Portland 93-82 in game 5, and never looked back. However, they were set to take on the Lakers, who won 57 games that year, with Kobe Bryant averaging 25.3 PPG. LA had also won 4 out of 5 games to beat the Pelicans in round 1. However, this did not phase the Mavericks.
Round Two: 4-0 vs Lakers
Dallas absolutely dismantled the Lakers, holding Bryant to 19 PPG and 3 APG in games two through four. This was one of the more shocking results in recent playoff memory, given that the Lakers were the back-to-back defending champions, and that a healthy Bryant and Pau Gasol were a top duo in the league. Meanwhile, Nowitzki averaged 25 and 10 on absurd shooting splits (57/73/94). Jason Terry had an all-time series, averaging 20 PPG on 59/68/86 shooting. JJ Barea totaled 11.5 PPG, and Jason Kidd’s 8.3 APG helped out. Overall, for Dallas, it was never the quality of players in this series, because the Lakers had more talent. It was the efficiency. Just look at Nowitzki’s and Terry’s shooting splits, and try to fathom that they weren’t the only ones. Tyson Chandler shot 65% from the field, and 80% from the stripe (15.6% better than his career average). JJ Barea shot 50% and 85% from those same spots. They’d had easily the hardest path to the conference championship of any remaining team, and were set to take on the dangerous OKC Thunder.
Round Three: 4-1 vs Thunder
Oklahoma City, a team that would reach the Finals a year later, came into Dallas as the 4-seed, headlined by three future MVPs in Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden, who were helped by Jeff Green, Serge Ibaka, and others. Durant was averaging 27.7 PPG (even more in the playoffs), and Westbrook went for 22, 5, and 8 in the regular season. No problem for the Mavs. Once again, Dallas pushed OKC to the side, winning the final three games of the series. Dirk put up a monstrous 32, 6, and 3 alongside Terry’s 15 PPG and 39.1% three-point shooting. Shawn Marion showed his resiliency, and, coming off a tough series vs LA, averaged 14 of his own. Bottom line, in one of the toughest western conferences ever, the Mavericks had outlasted the two powerhouses of the century in San Antonio and Los Angeles and had taken down the league’s top young juggernaut. But the biggest test still lay ahead.
NBA Finals: 4-2 vs Heat
Just months after the “The Decision” that landed LeBron James in Miami, the Heat were in the NBA Finals, blazing ahead, and only losing three games in the first three rounds. Let’s not forget that the Heat won their championship in 2006 without James against a similar-looking Mavericks team. So, they were underdogs, to say the least. In fact, after beating the Heat in an emotional 6 games, filled with signature plays by Nowitzki, clutch shooting by Terry and Kidd, and overall winning plays by Chandler, Marion, Barea, and the bench, the Mavericks would become the biggest pre-finals underdog to win it with +2000 odds (the 2014-2015 would surpass that mark). Miami held a 2-1 lead against Dallas, but the Mavs stormed back, and up 12 in game 6, Nowitzki made his way to the locker room, crying, after finally achieving the ultimate destiny in year 13, playing the game he loved. Add to the fact that the Mavericks were never brought to a game 7, even against difficult opponents, and their championship should forever be ingrained as one of the greatest ever.
But it is not. So, if you have a second, don’t take my word for it, and go watch some highlights from the 2011 Mavericks playoff run. They were truly special.