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| Where is your love for the Dallas Mavericks. |
by Rodney Fisher
How long does the feel of victory last? Sunday, June 12, 2011 is cemented in the memory Dallas Mavericks fans as the day it finally happened. After wallowing in NBA obscurity, losing in the playoffs, and even losing in The Finals in 2006, the little Mavs won it all. Add the fact they won by beating LeBron James and the Miami Heat and victory tasted 10-times sweeter.
The following Thursday the entire city celebrated in Victory Plaza, as we should. Nobody thought at the time that the championship that for so long seemed like a pipe dream would be so out-of-reach only two years later. Most championship teams in the sport of basketball, like the game itself, go on runs. Since that epic day in June, the Mavericks have not won one playoff game. They have not been able to secure the next superstar to play with Dirk Nowitzki that we hope for each year. The new approach to building the team is in complete contrast to before they won the title. It’s a new style of basketball that Dallas does not understand.
“The lockout was tough”, one former tickets sales employee said. “We were told to prepare to miss the whole season and I couldn’t make it not making any money. We don’t get paid on the sales until the season starts.” Mark Cuban unquestionable is a smart business man. In preparation for the a potential NBA lockout, the ticket sales office began to renew season ticket holders and solicit new fans during the 2011 Finals. Why not? The fandom was at an all time high and you have strike while the iron is hot.
“Losing Tyson [Chandler] did not really affect much, people could understand not paying him a lot of money. Losing [Jason] Kidd and [Jason] Terry was hard, because people loved them. They knew who they were”, he continued.
According to NBA.com, after the championship season, Dirk’s #41 jersey sales ranked seventh and the team merchandise ranked fifth. It was first time any Mavericks player or team merchandise cracked the top ten list since 2008. By the end of the next season, both had dropped out of the top ten.
In the 2011-12 lockout shortened season, the Mavs biggest draw may not have been a player on the court. “People would call up and ask for tickets to sit next to Khloe”, he said referring to the reality star Kardashian and wife of Lamar Odom. Also the promise to be there Christmas Day to watch the banner go up in the American Airlines Arena against the Miami Heat was a big incentive.
In 2012-13 season, after not being able to attract Deron Williams, Chris Paul, or Dwight Howard in free agency, the front office tried one of the most radical moves ever in sports. Bring in a bunch of players with one-year deals. The only takers of this option were B-level players that had flashes of greatness in the past, but no other team wanted long-term. The O.J. Mayos, Chris Kamans, Darren Collisons, and Elton Brands of the basketball world. The team had a total of 23 players that season that made up their 11-man roster throughout the year.
The result of the sports experiment was a 41-41 season, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2000.
“I was done”, one season ticket holder said following that season. “I am not going to pay to watch a bunch of nobodys that don’t care.” In full disclosure, he never really gave up his tickets, but he did move to a cheaper section.
In contrast, the team the Mavericks beat in the championship has gone in an opposite direction. Even with the salary cap restraints that all teams have to face, the Miami Heat get stronger every year. Historically, the stage was set for the Mavericks and Heat to become the next great rivalry in basketball. They met in The Finals in 2006, again in 2011. The Mavs have not been able to attract the next great free agent, unlike the Miami Heat that took the ultimate prize of wooing King James from his hometown and Chris Bosh away from his.
From a business perspective, the Mavericks’ moves make sense. They never had the opportunity to operate under the salary cap before. Cuban’s fan-like approach to building a team has cost millions in the past to try to surround Dirk with the right mix for no profit. They say trial and error is the best teacher, and Cuban has never shied away from failure. His opportunity to rebuild outweighed bringing back Chandler on a max deal, or Terry and Kidd on extensions.
The philosophy only works if you can get a superstar free agent. In the 2011-12 season the Mavericks, like most teams, tried to go after Chris Paul and Dwight Howard with no success. The bright lights of L.A. combined with playing with Kobe Bryant and Blake Griffin were more attractive than coming North Texas. That offseason, the Mavs set their sights on local point guard Deron Williams. It is debatable as to why that did not work out, but Cuban not attending the meeting probably did not help move things along.
The following year, it was all systems go for Dwight Howard. Dirk was making phone calls to free agents and attending trips, as the competition from other NBA teams was greater. Howard chose to go to Houston instead to play with James Harden, another young star on the rise.
The Mavericks biggest threat on the court is their biggest weakness of the court. Nobody can doubt the greatness of Dirk Nowitzki, but the reality is most NBA players in the prime of their years don’t find playing with a 35-year old aging superstar as a viable option. The attitude of NBA players now is different than it was even in the 2000’s. Players don’t just make decisions on where to play based on a coach or roster, but they want to know how they will be marketed. Anyone coming to Dallas to play pro basketball knows that this is Dirk’s playground, and you have to wait to until he gets tired before you can use the swing.
Players now don’t like rivalries like the old NBA. They want to align themselves with stars versus beating them to make their own lane.
For the fans, they simply want to get back the winning ways. Not having basketball downtown in April, May, and June seemed foreign to entire city. It has also changed the mindset for Cuban and Donnie Nelson. The quest to get back to the playoffs has re-lit the fire in the entire organization. Instead of signing players to one-and-done deals, they signed three-to-four year deals to start developing a core group. It doesn't matter if the team makes the eighth and final seed in the playoffs, they just want to get in. The pain of not was huge reality check for everyone.
“Our goal is to get to the playoffs”, says head coach Rick Carlisle. “That is what we have to do.” Dirk and Shawn Marion, the only remaining players from the championship team, echo the same sentiment.
While the Mavericks take a more business-like approach to rebuilding, other DFW area sports franchises have taken advantage of the chance to build their fan base. No matter how mediocre the Dallas Cowboys are, taking the pilgrimage to the AT&T stadium will always be on the to-do list. The Texas Rangers have spent more money on players in the last five years than any other area franchise to keep them competitive. Attendance and merchandising has gone up in the process.
The Mavericks may not have the next NBA superstar on the roster to take over for Dirk when he retires, and they may not be able to attract one either. But fans have to remember why they fell in love with this franchise in the first place. The Mavs were the little team that could never overcome the odds. People thought Dirk was too soft to win a championship before we won one. We thought Jason Kidd and Jason Terry were too old before we won one. People thought that Mark Cuban was just a rich brat with a basketball team that would never be a champion. We never expected the Mavericks to win, but they did. Now we all get to watch them try again. Isnt’ that why we feel in love with them? The chance to defy the odds.
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