The Dallas Mavericks joined the NBA in 1980-81 and quickly became a competitive franchise. With premium draft selections the team steadily improved through the 1980's. Dallas looked like a team of the future. Then in the early 1990s the Mavericks experienced one of the most precipitous declines in NBA history. The team's descent was so complete that it twice threatened the worst single-season record ever recorded. But with a solid core of young, talented players, the Mavericks should be able to start climbing their way back up the NBA ladder.

    Before welcoming the Mavericks in 1980, Dallas had been home to the Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association from 1967-68 to 1972-73. On March 26, 1973, the Chaparrals played the Carolina Cougars in the last ABA game played at Dallas Memorial Auditorium-the paid attendance was 134. The next season the Chaparrals became the San Antonio Spurs, and for the next seven years Dallas was without a professional basketball franchise.

    In 1979 millionaire Donald J. Carter and Mavericks founding President/GM Norm Sonju set the wheels in motion to secure an NBA team. At the 1980 NBA All-Star Game league owners voted to admit the Texas franchise. For a $12 million entry fee, Dallas was in for the 1980-81 season. The Mavericks would play in the NBA's Midwest Division.

    In the expansion draft the Mavericks bypassed experienced stars such as Earl Monroe, Rick Barry, Doug Collins, Pete Maravich, and Spencer Haywood. Instead the franchise went with youth, 18 of the 22 players chosen by Dallas had less than three years of NBA experience. Although there was some talent, 11 of the expansion picks were former first-round draft choices-it was a typical expansion crew. Among the recognizable names were Jim Spanarkel from the Philadelphia 76ers, Austin Carr from the Cleveland Cavaliers, Bingo Smith from the San Diego Clippers, and Richard Washington from the Milwaukee Bucks.

    The trade served the Mavericks extremely well. They used one of the picks to draft Rolando Blackman in 1981, Blackman became the team's all-time leading scorer. In another move that would pay huge dividends, Dallas traded Mike Bratz to Cleveland for the Cavaliers' 1984 first-round draft choice. Dallas used that pick in 1984 to select Sam Perkins, who gave the club six solid seasons at power forward and center.

    The Mavericks' best move was the hiring of Dick Motta as the club's first head coach. A good teacher and a basketball disciplinarian, Motta had arrived in the NBA as coach of the 1968-69 Chicago Bulls and transformed the club into a winner. After Chicago's 51-31 finish in 1970-71, Motta was named NBA Coach of the Year. He left Chicago following the 1975-76 season to coach the Washington Bullets, guiding them to the NBA title in 1978. Motta arrived in Dallas with a 541-443 NBA coaching record.

    The Mavericks opened the 1980-81 season in the posh new $27 million Reunion Arena. The opening-night lineup included Abdul Jeelani, Jerome Whitehead, Tom LaGarde, Geoff Huston, and Winford Boynes. Dallas upset the San Antonio Spurs, 103-92, in the team's debut contest. Jeelani scored the first points in franchise history; Boynes led Dallas with 21 points, while LaGarde added 19 points and 14 rebounds.

    The rest of the season saw the losses mount with discouraging frequency, even for an expansion club. The Mavericks started 6-40 and suffered losing streaks of 10 and 12 games before they managed to win two in a row. On November 8, in a game against the Detroit Pistons, Motta joined Red Auerbach, Red Holzman, and Gene Shue on the list of coaches to log 1,000 career NBA games. Ironically, Motta missed the fourth quarter of his 1,000th game after being ejected. The Mavericks lost that contest, 101-73.

    With the 2000-01 season setting the standard for Mavericks basketball, the 2001-02 team raised the bar in their pursuit to win a championship. The season began with the opening of the brand new, state-of-the-art American Airlines Center and another record-breaking season swung into action.

    The 2002-03 season for the Dallas Mavericks established their position as one of the elite teams in the NBA and produced many team and individual achievements. After starting the season on fire and winning their first 14 games, the Mavericks made franchise history by finishing the season with a 60-22 mark, that eclipsed the 2001-02 season record of 57-25. The 60-22 record was the team's ninth winning season in franchise history and also made Dallas one of three NBA teams to post 50 wins in three consecutive seasons. Dallas became the first team to clinch a playoff spot in the NBA in mid March. The Mavericks advanced to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 1988, before bowing out to the eventual World Champion, San Antonio Spurs in six games. The Mavericks playoff run consisted of 20 games marking the longest post season run in Mavs history.