Sports Then and Now

Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks claimed their first NBA title.

Though most of the attention and focus was given to the Miami Heat and their “big three”, the Dallas Mavericks and their superstar Dirk Nowitzki stole the show and the Larry O’Brien Trophy as the NBA Champions for the 2010-2011 season.

After losing two of the first three games of the series, the Mavericks won the last three games, including a 105-95 victory in game six on the Heat’s home floor, to win the first title in team history.

Much will be written about the “collapse” of the Heat and disappointing fourth quarter performances of LeBron James in the final three games of the series. However, what is truly deserving of ink is the grit and determination of Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry and the Mavericks.

For the last decade the Mavericks have made a habit of posting a great regular season, only to fold in the playoffs. Over a 10 year span, they lost in the first round of the playoffs four times, the Western Conference semifinals four times, the Western Conference finals once and the NBA finals once.

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That finals loss in 2006 seemed to be a microcosm for the decade of disappointment as the Mavericks won the first two games of the NBA Finals and led the third game by 13 points in the fourth period before dropping four straight games to the Miami Heat.

Lebron James and Dwyane Wade will have to wait until next year to start their dynasty.

Few expected that Dallas would ever again get through the Western Conference and that proved true until 2011.

Ironically, when they did finally make it their opponent was again the Miami Heat.

This time Miami got off to a fast start winning two of the first three games and dominating the action for most of the first four games of the series.

However, Dallas made the big plays when needed down the stretch with Dirk Nowitzki leading the way.

While James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh got most of the attention, Nowitzki often strapped the Mavericks on his back and led them to victory.

Even though his performance for much of game six was below is usual standards, Nowitzki was still there taking the big shots and in the fourth period scored 10 of his 21 points to seal the victory.

Most expected the finals to be the start of the Miami Heat dynasty. While the Heat will no doubt be the favorite to win multiple titles down the road, this postseason was instead the time when former bridesmaids Terry, Kidd and Nowitzki finally got to hoist the championship trophy.

Kidd and Nowitzki will both go down as among the best players in NBA history and now will forever be remembered as NBA champions.