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The Dallas Mavericks were established in 1980 and since have witnessed their days of glory as well as limbo. They remained competitive in the mid-1980s, being part of five consecutive playoffs between 1983 and 1988 behind the young core of Mark Aguirre, Derek Harper, and Rolando Blackman which included a berth in the Western Conference finals in 1988.
The early 90s went terrible when their star players left Dallas- either via free agency or trades. But the second half of the decade saw the rise of the Mavericks with young talents like Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash and Michael Finley getting aboard before Mark Cuban bought the team in 2000.
By 2005, the team was among the best in the Western Conference and made its first Final appearance against the Miami Heat who became the NBA champions that season. As the team built in the upcoming years and amazing players like Jason Terry, Jason Kidd and others were getting to be a part of the franchise. Finally in 2011, the Mavericks became the NBA champions for the first time by getting their revenge on Miami Heat, their 2006 finals nemesis.
The Mavericks or the Mavs as they are fondly called, have won three divison titles (1987, 2007, 2010), two conference championships (2006, 2011) and one NBA championship (2011).
The Dallas Mavericks is now being led by Dirk Nowitzki (who is in his 21st and his final NBA season), the Wonderboy- Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis, Mavs veteran J.J. Barea and others. Now let's take a look at the top players to feature for the franchise since 2000:
#5 Michael Finley (1996-2005)
After being named to the 1995–96 NBA All-Rookie First Team and finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting, Michael Finley came to Dallas with a lot of expectations as the team was re-building from ruins of the 90s’ disaster. In his first season with the Mavericks he led the team in scoring, assists and steals.
The trio of Finley, Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki was one of the dominating “Big 3” of the late 90s. Finley was versatile in scoring with good shooting ability and inside the paint domination, was swift on the defensive end and could rebound the ball. He was arguably as important to Dallas' resurgence as any other player, including Nowitzki.
He was selected as an All-Star in 2000 and 2001. He remained a clutch player for the Mavs till he was waived by Dallas in 2005. Then he signed with the San Antonio Spurs where he played for the next six seasons and won his only NBA championship in 2007. He played the remainder of 2009-10 season with the Boston Celtics before announcing his retirement.
#4 Jason Terry (2004-2012)
Jason Terry was selected 10th overall by the Hawks in 1999 where he earned second team All-Rookie. After serving five seasons with Atlanta Hawks he came to Dallas Mavericks in 2004 and was to serve replacement for Steve Nash after the unpopular decision to let Nash leave in free agency. The guard quickly emerged as a fan favorite with his final quarter specialist stature and his signature "Jet" celebration, handling out arms, after draining in every shot.
On July 1, 2006, Terry and the Mavericks agreed on a six-year deal. Terry won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year in 2008-09. He averaged 19.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.3 steals in 33.6 minutes in 63 of 74 games he featured as sixth man. He was a pivotal force in Dallas' finals performances in 2006 and in 2011.
In 8 seasons that he played for the Mavericks, he averaged 16.1 points, 4.1 assists, 2.3 rebounds, 1.2 steals over 32.7 minutes.
Terry left the Mavericks to sign with the Boston Celtics as a free agent in July 2012. After playing for a year, he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets along with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett for future draft picks. Thereafter, he played two seasons with the Houston Rockets from 2014-16 where he became the third player in NBA history to score 2000 three-pointers. He was then traded to Miwaukee Bucks and played two seasons. Now he is planning to enter BIG3 league.
#3 Steve Nash (1998-2004)
After spending two years with Phoenix Suns, Steve Nash came to Dallas to become the formidable point guard the NBA has witnessed. During the early 2000s, he was the part of the resurgence that saw the Mavericks become one of the NBA's elite teams. He featured as an All-Star for two times during his tenure with the Dallas Mavericks.
He and Dirk Nowitzki drove the Mavericks to the 2003 Western Conference Finals where they lost to the eventual NBA champions, San Antonio Spurs. He was fifth in the league in 3-point shooting in 2001-02, finished in the top five in free-throw percentage four times and was third in assists in 2003-04.
In 2004 off-season the Dallas Mavericks and Mark Cuban couldn't match the deal Nash was expecting and he had to reluctantly leave for Phoenix. Nash was named NBA MVP in consecutive seasons–2004-05 and 2005-06–and led the NBA in assists five times and in free-throw shooting twice. He played eight seasons with the Suns where he became All-Star six times and was selected to All-NBA First Team three times.
He signed with the Lakers in 2013 and stayed there till 2015, most of the time battling injuries before he announced retirement in 2015 because of back injury issues.
#2 Jason Kidd (1994-1996, 2008-2012)
Jason Kidd was selected as 2nd overall pick in the 1994 draft by the Dallas Mavericks. In his first year, he averaged 11.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 7.7 assists, and led the NBA in triple doubles, sharing 1995 NBA Rookie of the Year honors with Hill of the Detroit Pistons. In 1996 he was voted as an All-Star starter. After such a great start things got testy between the young star and the coaches.
He was traded to Phoenix Suns where Kidd rose to his ultimate best while making three All-Star appearances (1998, 2000, and 2001), was named to the All-NBA First Team three years in a row (1999–2001) and led the NBA in assists for three consecutive years (1999–2001). He was then traded to New Jersey Nets where he spent where he spent seven season and helped the Nets move to the playoffs six times.
He returned to the Dallas in 2008 and helped Dallas through their failed playoff campaigns before winning his only NBA Championship in 2011 defeating NBA All-Stars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat.
An aged Jason Kidd spent his next season with the New York Knicks before calling an end to his celebrated NBA career.
In his 8 seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, he played 500 games and averaged 10.5 points, 8.4 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals over 34.6 minutes of play.
#1 Dirk Nowitzki (1998-present)
Dirk Nowitzki is undoubtedly the best Dallas Maverick of all time. His 21 years career has been dedicated to the Mavs and he has not lost on a chance to bring glory to his team. Right from the struggling years of the Dallas Mavericks to the 2011 glory, Dirk has seen it all. As a 7 footer power forward, Dirk's ability of perimeter shooting brought a revolution to the big men's game which the NBA is witnessing now.
The German has been to the All Star game 14 times, been named to the All NBA team 12 times, was named the league's Most Valuable Player in 2007. In 2011 he brought a maiden NBA championship to Dallas as well as won the Finals MVP.
There is hardly any Dallas franchise stat sheets that he does not dominate. Recently he passed Wilt Chamberlain to move at No. 6 on the NBA’s all time points scored leader board.
