Ever play NBA 2K’s ’80s Era and notice that only 23 teams existed back then? Ever wonder how the NBA got there? Well, in 1980, the league expanded by one team, and that expansion team was none other than the Dallas Mavericks.
That means the Mavericks had played only three seasons before our 2K sim took over in 1983-84. Those first three years were typical expansion seasons.
Dallas never made the playoffs and finished below .500 every year, but there was steady improvement. The Mavericks went from just 15 wins in their first season to 38 in their third, putting them on the verge of becoming a playoff team.
In real life, Dallas took that next step in 1983-84, winning 43 games and making the playoffs for the first time. They even won their first playoff series before falling to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals.
Our Mavericks had a similar season, winning 42 games, but their playoff run ended sooner with a decisive Game 5 loss to the Utah Jazz in the first round.
The following season, the real-life Mavericks continued to improve, finishing 44-38 before losing in the first round. Our Mavericks also suffered another first-round exit, but ours came as a much bigger disappointment.
After winning 57 games and earning the third seed, Dallas was upset by the sixth-seeded San Antonio Spurs on its home floor in another decisive Game 5.
1986 was when things really started to look different. In reality, Dallas won 44 games and returned to the Western Conference Semifinals, where the Lakers eliminated them again.
Our Mavericks had a breakthrough year. They won their first-ever playoff series and even advanced as far as the Western Conference Finals. Unfortunately, standing in their way was the team that had become a familiar obstacle at least in reality: the Lakers.
The following year, the Mavericks accomplished something they wouldn't achieve in real life for nearly two more decades. Led by Mark Aguirre, Dallas won an incredible 66 games, claimed the top spot in the West, and returned to the Conference Finals for a rematch with Magic Johnson's Lakers.
This time, there would be no heartbreak against Los Angeles. The Mavericks swept the Lakers and advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, all in just their seventh season of existence.
And they weren't simply happy to be there. After four games against the Philadelphia 76ers, Dallas found itself just one win away from the championship.
If the Mavericks could close it out, Aguirre would have brought Dallas its first title 24 years before Dirk Nowitzki led the franchise to its first real-life championship.
Instead, the Mavericks became part of NBA history for a very different reason. The 76ers rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win the Finals, becoming the first team ever to complete that comeback on basketball's biggest stage.
Dallas had come within one victory of a championship, only to watch it slip away. That missed opportunity would loom large as the Mavericks spent the following years trying to get back to the top. Meanwhile, Karl Malone and the surging Houston Rockets began to take control of the Western Conference.
In 1992, the Mavericks finally returned to the Western Conference Finals after several years of playoff disappointments, including three losses in the semifinals and one first-round exit.
This time, Dallas arrived as a seventh seed with a 42-40 record. Nobody expected much from them, but the Mavericks pulled off back-to-back upsets against the Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers to reach the Conference Finals.
Their Cinderella run, however, ran into the defending champion Rockets. Houston swept Dallas on its way to a second championship and a record perfect 16-0 playoff run.
The next several seasons were even tougher. Dallas lost in the first round five straight years, including upset defeats at the hands of the seventh-seeded Houston Rockets in 1993 and the seventh-seeded Seattle SuperSonics in 1994. The team that had once come within a game of a championship was now struggling just to get past the opening round.
Things finally bottomed out in 1998, when the Mavericks missed the playoffs for the first time in our sim. They had gone 14 straight seasons with a playoff berth, while in real life, Dallas missed the postseason for ten consecutive seasons from 1991 through 2001.
In our universe, the missed playoff berth turned out to be a blessing in disguise. With their 1998 draft pick, the Mavericks selected Dirk Nowitzki.
Could he become the greatest Maverick of all time, just as he did in real life? Dallas wasn't about to wait around to find out. The team also signed free agent Gary Payton, and the two additions helped transform the franchise almost overnight.
In the 1998-99 season, Dallas returned to the playoffs as the fifth seed and pulled off two impressive upsets. First, the Mavericks defeated Tim Duncan's Los Angeles Lakers.
Then they knocked out the defending champion Golden State Warriors, led by five-time league MVP Len Bias. Suddenly, Dallas was back in the Western Conference Finals, and for the first time, it had reason to believe another trip to the NBA Finals was within reach.
On the other side of the bracket, stood, the sixth-seeded Phoenix Suns were putting together a Cinderella run of their own. The Mavericks had homecourt and looked poised to take advantage of the opportunity.
Instead, Phoenix pulled off another upset, defeating Dallas in five games on the Mavericks' home floor. Once again, a promising playoff run ended with Dallas watching someone else move on to the Finals.
By the end of the 2002-03 season, the Mavericks were still searching for their first championship. After reaching the Western Conference Finals in 1999, they advanced to the semifinals in each of the next two seasons but couldn't get any further. Then came back-to-back seasons without a playoff appearance, it was the first time Dallas had missed the postseason in consecutive years in our sim.
The Mavericks had already shown they could build a 66-win powerhouse, sweep Magic Johnson's Lakers, and come within one victory of a title. They had also found new hope in Dirk Nowitzki and Gary Payton, only to fall short again.
Dallas has had its chances, but the championship remains out of reach. Can Dirk be the player who finally brings a title to Dallas, or will the Mavericks' history be remembered for all the opportunities they couldn't quite finish?
Check back for future updates as we continue to rewrite the history of the Mavericks and discover what comes next in this alternate basketball universe.
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