The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at 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 NBA Finals appearance in 2006 and its only NBA championship in 2011.
The Mavericks later entered a rebuilding phase in the tail end of Nowitzki’s storied career; although they missed the playoffs in three consecutive years from 2017 to 2019 (after which Nowitzki retired following his record-breaking 21st season with Dallas), the franchise’s fortunes immediately rebounded once again with the acquisition of Luka Dončić; the Mavericks returned to the playoffs in 2020, reached the Western Conference finals in 2022 for the first time since their 2011 championship, and reached their third NBA Finals in 2024. In February 2025, the Mavericks traded Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers mainly for Anthony Davis.
Since the Mavericks’ inaugural 1980–81 season, the Mavericks have won five division titles (1987, 2007, 2010, 2021, 2024), three conference championships (2006, 2011, 2024) and one NBA championship (2011).
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 (18 out of the 22 teams lost money) and unpopular (television ratings fell 26 percent). 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. (The Minnesota Timberwolves would not join until 1989.) 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.
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 fans chose the title with 4,600 postcards received, beating Wranglers and Express.[11][12] James Garner, who played the title character, was a member of the ownership group. The University of Texas at Arlington, who also uses the Mavericks nickname, had objections about a shared name but did not attempt any legal action. They joined the Midwest Division of the Western Conference, where they would stay until the league went to six divisions for the 2004–05 season. Dick Motta, who had guided the Washington Bullets to the NBA Championship in 1977–78, was hired as the team’s first head coach.
The Mavs drafted Kiki VanDeWeghe of UCLA with the 11th pick of the 1980 NBA draft. Still, VanDeWeghe refused to play for the expansion Mavericks and staged a holdout that lasted a month into its 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 Vincent in 1985.
In the Mavericks debut game, taking place in the brand-new Reunion Arena, the Mavericks defeated the Spurs, 103–92. But the Mavs started the season with a 6–40 record on their way to finishing 15–67. However, the Mavericks did make a player acquisition that, while it seemed minor at the time, turned out to play a significant role in the early years of their franchise. Journeyman 6 ft 3 in guard Brad Davis, who played for the Anchorage Northern Knights of the Continental Basketball Association, was tracked down and signed by the Mavericks in December after a scout watched a game with Davis. He had to be convinced to play for the team rather than attend to his studies at the University of Maryland (which he was funding by playing for Anchorage). He would play for the remainder of the season after joining in December. Davis would spend the next twelve years with the Mavericks, and eventually, his number 15 jersey was retired. The Mavericks also marked the first NBA team to have a good debut season, with 7,789 spectators per game.
The 1981 NBA Draft brought three players who would become vital parts of the team. The Mavs selected forward Mark Aguirre with the first pick, guard Rolando Blackman ninth, and forward Jay Vincent at 24th. By the end of his seven-year Mavericks career, Aguirre would average 24.6 points per game. Blackman contributed 19.2 points over his 11-year career in Dallas. But it was Jay Vincent who made the most significant difference for the Mavs in their second season, leading the team in scoring with 21.4 points per game and earning NBA All-Rookie Team honors. The Mavericks improved to 28–54, getting out of the Midwest Division cellar as they finished above the Utah Jazz.
