This was after the previous basketball team of the city, the Dallas Chaparrals, had moved to San Antonio and became the San Antonio Spurs in 1973. The NBA agreed to accept the Mavericks into the league for a fee of $12 million.

The First Few Years

The initial year of the Mavs, as they are also popularly called, was not very successful. It was only after Jay Vincent was acquired by the team that they showed marked improvement. In their third season, they almost made the playoffs. Though they did not make it, the fact that they were even in contention for a spot in the playoffs was amazing considering they were just a three year old expansion team. In the 1983 season, the Mavericks reached their first playoffs. They lost in the second round to the Los Angeles Lakers.

In 1985, they made the playoffs again but lost in the first round itself. By this time the Mavericks had become quite a strong team. They were one of the few teams with a very high scoring average. They made the playoffs yet again and even reached the conference semi-finals where they fell to the Lakers once again. The Mavs won their first Midwest Division title in 1986 but were defeated again in the playoffs.

The Mavericks reached their first NBA Finals in 1988 but had to face their old rival the Los Angeles Lakers again. In spite of a good fight, the Mavs could not defeat the Lakers for whom this was the second NBA title in a row.

After a few unsuccessful years, the team drafted Jason Kidd in 1994. Kidd, along with Jamal Mashburn and Jim Jackson, helped improve the team and brought them back into contention. These three players came to be known as “The Three J’s”.

The 2001 season saw the Mavs moving to the American Airlines Center for their home games. They also made changes in their logo and team colors. With players like Avery Johnson, Tariq Adbul-Wahad and Nick Van Exel, the team made it to the playoffs only to lose to the Sacramento Kings in the second round.

They made several changes in their team in 2005 and Avery Johnson took over as head coach. They also signed on Josh Powell, Rawle Marshall and Darrell Armstrong. The stronger Mavs went on to reach the NBA Finals of 2006 against the Miami Heat. In spite of securing an early lead of 2-0, the Mavs eventually fell to the Heat. In March 2007, the Mavs became the second team in NBA history to win 51 out of their last 56 games.