In this fall... this is very tough... in this fall I'm going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.
Those words, uttered by LeBron James on July 8, 2010 from the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich, Connecticut, seemed to write the conclusion of the upcoming NBA season right there and then. James, the reigning and two-time MVP, was joining the Miami Heat and teaming up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Between the three of them in 2010 were James' two-MVPs, 17 all-star selections, and six All-NBA 1st team selections. All of this while the three were still in their primes and all under 30. The early 2010s looked like they were going to be ruled by the Miami Heat, and the 2010-11 season would be their official coronation. The preseason odds put the Heat at +175, the best in the league. The Heat would post one of the best records in the league that season before costing to the NBA Finals, never going beyond Game 5 in each of the first three rounds of the playoffs. They were just four wins away from being crowned NBA Champions. The last team standing in their way; the Dallas Mavericks.
The 3rd-seeded Mavericks had fought through the Western Conference, knocking off the weakened but tough Portland Trail Blazers in the first round before asserting themselves as serious contenders with a clean sweep over the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. Following a five-game series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that would make the Finals the very next season, the Mavericks found themselves in the championship series for the first time since 2006, when they once again faced and were defeated by the Miami Heat, and were looking to erase their reputation of being unable to perform in the playoffs, something emphasized by their 2007 first-round exit as the one-seed at the hands of the Golden State Warriors. Leading the Mavericks was Dirk Nowitzki, a former MVP and12-year veteran looking to avenge his 2006 loss and 2007 quick elimination to win his first NBA Championship. Along for the ride was a supporting cast of former all-stars and strong role players.
The odds of both these teams in winning were drastically different. As I mentioned, the preseason odds for the Heat were +175. The odds for the Mavericks? +2000. A $100 bet before the season on Dallas would've netted you $2100 total. When the Finals were set, the Mavericks were +155 to win. The Heat were -175. A $100 would've got you just over $50 in profit. The Mavericks were underdogs, no doubt. A classic David & Goliath story. How did it go? Before we talk about that and the series...we have to talk about the NBA and superteams.
Superteams
The Big Three. The Heatles. The Three Kings. Three Hot Dudes. The James Jones Fan Club. Most of those are real nicknames used to describe LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh when they formed in Miami. However, the label that's stuck with them the most is the concept they're credited with popularizing; superteam. A "superteam" is described as an NBA team with multiple superstars, or at least all-stars, on their roster. The Heat win two championships using this formula in 2012 and 2013, as would the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Toronto Raptors between 2015 and 2019. The San Antonio Spurs managed to win in 2014 with only one all-star in Tony Parker, but Tim Duncan was still around and made the all-star game the year before and the year after, so that's a grey area. It's unarguable that superteams have dominated the modern NBA. However, saying that the trend started with the Big Three isn't entirely true. 
The Los Angeles Lakers, who won the two previous championships in 2009 and 2010, had two all-stars in Kobe Bryant & Pau Gasol. Before them, the Boston Celtics won the 2008 Finals with three all-stars. That 2006 Heat team won a championship behind Wade & Shaquille O'Neal, two all-stars. The Lakers won another three championships between 2000 and 2002 behind Kobe & Shaq, two all-stars. In fact, the 2000s only saw two teams win the NBA Finals with only one all-star, the 2003 Spurs and the 2004 Detroit Pistons, a team famous for not having a real star. However, it doesn't stop there.
The 90s were dominated by the Chicago Bulls, who won six championships over eight years. Four of those championship rosters had at least two all-stars. The 80s were dominated by the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, both of which had multiple all-stars every time they won a championship. Only two teams in the 70s, the 1978 Washington Bullets and the 1975 Golden State Warriors, had less than two all-stars the year they won the championship. The 60s saw Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics run roughshod through the league, winning every year except 1967 in that decade, and every year they had multiple all-stars on their roster. Even going back to the 1950s, the Minneapolis Lakers, the NBA's first real dynasty, had multiple all-stars every year they'd win a championship. The superteam is huge in today's NBA, but acting like this is a new philosophy is just incorrect. Superteams have always dominated the NBA, and teams with just one all-star on their roster are the outliers.
One of those outliers was the 2011 Dallas Mavericks. As I mentioned before, the Mavericks were led by Dirk Nowitzki, who made the all-star game as a reserve that season. Nowitzki was the sole all-star for the Mavericks that season. They did have several former all-stars on the roster, such as Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, and Peja Stojaković, but they were all way past their prime and no longer all-star caliber players. Caron Butler was also there and also a former all-star, but he was put on the DL midway through the season after rupturing his right patellar tendon. So how does a team defy the status quo of the league and win a championship with only one real star? A strong core.
The Mavericks might have only had one all-star in Nowitzki, but the foundation of the team was strong thanks to the supporting cast. Kidd, Marion, and Stojaković might not have been all-star level players anymore, but were still quality pieces for a contending team. Jason Terry was still performing at a high level off the bench, contributing 15.8 points on 45% field goal and 36% three-point shooting and 4.1 assists during the season and dropped 17.5 points on 48% field goal and 44% three-point shooting during the playoffs. Tyson Chandler was a tough, brick wall of a player who strengthened the team's defense on route to him making the All-Defensive 2nd Team. Lastly, there was J.J. Barea, an undersized but still solid point guard.
Compare this to the Miami Heat. The Big Three were the obvious stars, but the players around them weren't the best. Mario Chalmers and Udonis Haslem were solid enough, but that was about it. Mike Bibby was way past his prime at this point, as was Mike Miller. Zydrunas Ilgauskas was a former all-star, but was a shell of himself in 2011 and wouldn't see the floor in the Finals. Juwan Howard was also a former all-star...in 1996. In 2011, he could hardly stay on the court. This supporting cast was so weak & lackluster that Joel Anthony, a man with career averages of 2.2 points and 2.8 rebounds, was the starting center for the majority of this playoff run. Top-heavy is an understatement when describing this team.
Two teams, two different approaches to creating a championship roster, two very different sets of expectations. All those narratives came together in the 2011 NBA Finals. Would the Mavericks take down the evil empire of the NBA, or would LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh lead the Miami Heat to the championships and take their spot atop the NBA.
Game 1
The beginning of Game 1 could be seen as a foreshadowing of what was to come for the Heat. Despite their dominance throughout the playoffs, they hit a brick wall in the first quarter, shooting just 6/21 (28.6%) from the field and 1/6 from the three-point range. This could have been disastrous for the Miami...had Dallas not shot just as bad, going 4/14 from the field (28.6%) and 3/8 from three-point range. After a lackluster first quarter that saw the Mavericks lead 17-16, the game remained close until the third quarter. Dallas jumped out to a quick 8-point lead, but Miami would step up and dominate the rest of the quarter, outscoring the Mavericks 22-10 in the last ten minutes and headed into the fourth quarter with a 65-61 lead. After going 3/4 in the first two minutes of the third quarter, Dallas shot 3/14 (21.4%) from the field for the rest of the quarter. Dallas fought to keep it close, but the Heat maintained the lead and won 92-84. The Big Three combined for 65, with LeBron James dropping 24 points on 9/16 (56.3%) from the field and 9 rebounds while Dwyane Wade scored 22 on 9/19 (47.4%) from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds. The Mavericks were led by Dirk Nowitzki, who scored 27 points, but shot 7/18 (38.9%) from the field. The Heat would shoot better overall than the Mavericks, shooting 38.8% from the field compared to the Mavericks' 37.3%. And to add salt to the wound, Nowitzki tore a tendon in his left-hand finger late in the game. Luckily, the injury was not enough to keep the Mavericks' one all-star off the court, but it still put a Dallas team that were already the underdogs at a bigger disadvantage.
Game 2
Heat lead the series 1-0
Game 2 was even closer than Game 1. The Heat and Mavericks kept the game neck and neck for the first three quarters. Whenever one team would gain a significant lead, the other would quickly cut the gap and keep it close. The first half of the fourth quarter saw the Heat break off from the Mavericks, and with just over 7 minutes left in the game, the Heat led by 15. Only one team in history had come back from a bigger deficit in NBA Finals history. In those seven minutes, Jason Terry dropped 8 points, 6 unanswered, and led a comeback, alongside Nowitzki, Shawn Marion, and Jason Kidd, to tie the game up at 90-90 with a minute left. Nowitzki, injured hand and all, knocked down two shots to tie it up and with under 30 seconds left, nailed a three-pointer to give the Mavericks a 93-90 lead. Needing a three, LeBron James found Mario Chalmers, who lost Jason Terry and was so wide-ass open you'd think he was invisible to every Maverick on the court.
LeBron heaved to it Chalmers, who nailed the uncontested three to tie the game up with 24.5 seconds left. With just enough time left, Jason Kidd got the ball and ran down the clock, effectively giving the Mavericks the final real possession. With about 10 seconds left, Kidd dumped it off to Nowitzki, who drove to the left side of the hoop. Nowitzki managed to slip past Chris Bosh and, off his bum hand, sunk a lay-up to give the Mavericks the 95-93 lead. A desperation three-point floater and from Dwyane Wade hit the back of the rim and the follow-up flop got no whistle, giving the Mavericks the win. Nowitzki closed the game by scoring the Mavericks' last 9 points and ended up with 24 points and 11 rebounds, shooting 10/22 (45.5%) from the field. Shawn Marion would contribute with 20 points of his own while Jason Terry, despite the major lapse in defense towards the end, provided 16 points off the bench. The Heat saw Wade put up a great 36-point performance but still came up short.
Game 3
Series tied 1-1
The Heat were not prepared to let the Mavericks upset them again, taking control of the game early on and holding the lead for the majority of the game and leading by as much as 14 in the second quarter. However, the Mavericks would fight back from a deficit once again, tying up the game in the third before eventually taking the lead. The Heat managed to keep the edge over Dallas throughout the fourth quarter, but the Mavericks were able to tie it up twice towards the end of the game thanks to Dirk Nowitzki. Were the Heat about to choke another lead and go down 2-1 in the Finals. No, because LeBron James found an open Chris Bosh to knocked down a mid-range jumper to put the Heat up by two with under 40 seconds left. The ball was back in Nowitzki's hands to send the game to overtime, but he couldn't shake Udonis Haslem and the Heat held on to win 88-86. Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 29 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 12/21 (57.1%) from the field while Nowitzki led the Mavericks 34 points and 11 while shooting 11/21 (52.4%). However, the stat sheet told another important story.
The King Without a Crown
LeBron James is one of the best players in the history of the NBA. There is no denying that. He's been one of the best all-around players in the entire league for just about his entire career, to the point where even in 2020 at age 35, an age where many of the other greatest players of all time have declined, James is still one of the top players in the league. He's won multiple MVPs, made multiple all-star appearances and All-NBA 1st Teams, and won multiple NBA championships. In 2011, however, the focus of his status as an all-time great was on his championships, or, the lack thereof. As good as LeBron had been, he'd never won a ring. In fact, he'd barely even gotten close.
In the six playoff runs the Cleveland Cavaliers would make during LeBron's first stint, only once did they go to the Finals, where they'd get swept by the San Antonio Spurs in 2007. The years they didn't, they mostly underwhelmed in the playoffs, with his final two years ending with the #1 seeded Cavaliers falling as early as the second round. Now, this could be due to a lack of talent surrounding James, evidenced by the fact that Cavaliers went from 61-21 to 19-63 with roughly the same core after LeBron left, but it's a lot easier (and more interesting) to point the finger at LeBron James than Delonte West. Had LeBron stayed in Cleveland, he ran the risk of going ringless, something that likely would've hurt his legacy. Because what's a king without a crown? Some guy in a nice chair.
This series was just as much about shedding the reputation of being a choke artist for LeBron as it was him winning his first NBA Championship. He became the biggest villain in the NBA at the time to achieve that. And so far...he hasn't really done that. Through these first three games, James hasn't been bad per say, but not great, averaging 20.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 51% from the field and 44% from three-point range. He's still shooting well, but he's not putting up the elite numbers we've come to expect from him. But hey, the series still has at least two games left in the series, maybe he can turn it around and show why he's in the conversation of the greatest of all time.
Game 4
Heat lead the series 2-1
Even if it wasn't a win-or-go-home situation, Game 4 was a must-win the Dallas Mavericks. A 3-1 series lead is about as close to a death sentence as you can get in the playoffs. In 2011, a 3-1 deficit had only been overcome eight times in the playoffs' 60+ year history, and never in the Finals. The Mavericks needed to win or else they risked digging themselves a hole that was too deep to climb out of. To add to the pressure of this game, Dirk Nowitzki, who already was dealing with his torn tendon in his finger, had another setback, as he recorded a 101 °F fever before the game. The odds were stacked against Dallas more than ever in Game 4.
In yet another close game, the Heat led by four going into the fourth quarter, at one point jumping out to a nine-point lead early in the fourth, but the Mavericks jumped out ahead late in the game, with Nowitzki, Jason Terry, and Tyson Chandler scoring all 21 of the team's points in the fourth quarter. After Terry put the Mavericks up 86-83 with two free throws, the Heat had under 7 seconds to hit a three and send the game to overtime. The chances of that happening dropped significantly when Dwyane Wade fumbled the inbound pass, just barely making a diving save to prevent a backcourt violation and sending it into the hands of Mike Miller, who airballed the final shot before the buzzer sounded. The Mavericks held on to tie the series at two apiece.
Despite the flu, Nowitzki dropped 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Terry provided 17 points off the bench and Shawn Marion added 16. For Miami, Wade led the Heat with 32 points while Chris Bosh added 24. Every member of the Big Three showed up...except for one. LeBron James, who needed to perform this game just as much as the Mavericks did, put up a performance so bad he's never been able to come close to it. James finished the night with 8 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists while shooting 3/11 (27.3%) from the field and 0/3 from three-point range. To date, it's the worst playoff performance of LeBron James' career. If LeBron was looking to erase the "choker" reputation he had, this game did nothing but enforce it.
Game 5
Series tied 2-2
So far, this series has been a low scoring affair. This was not the case for Game 5, as both teams would score over 100 this game. The first quarter stayed close throughout, with Dallas leading until Mike Miller intercepted a pass from Jason Kidd and dished it to Mario Chalmers, who hit a very tough 40 ft shot at the buzzer to give the Heat the 31-30 lead. However, the Heat wouldn't be going into the rest of the game at full strength, as Dwyane Wade, who's been the best player on the Heat this series, drew a foul on Brian Cardinal but injured his hip. Wade would continue to play, however. The Heat jumped out to an early lead in the second quarter, but the Mavericks rebounded late and took lead, holding on through the third quarter. The Mavericks led by as much as seven in the fourth quarter until a 9-0 stretch from Wade & Udonis Haslem put the Heat up 99-95.
During that time, Jason Terry's poor defense allowed Haslem to give the Heat the lead with just over five minutes left, causing Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle to take him out. He told Terry "Refocus. I'm putting you right back in" and less than a minute later, Terry was back in the game. From there, the former Sixth Man of the Year who's body had the Larry O'Brien Trophy tattooed on it before the season had started, led the Mavericks. Terry scored 8 of the last 16 points the Mavericks scored and assisted on two more shots. In the finals four minutes of Game 5, Terry was involved in every non-free throw scored by the Mavericks. Terry's burst of offense allowed the Mavericks to go on a 15-3 run to end the game, giving the Mavericks the 112-103 win and their first lead of the series.
Dirk Nowitzki finished the game with 29 points on 9/18 shooting, while Terry provided 21 points and 6 assists off the bench. Where Dallas really shined, however, was there three-point shooting, going 13/19 (68.4%) from beyond the arc with Terry, Jason Kidd, and J.J. Barea going a combined 10/13 (76.9%) from three. I haven't talked about Barea too much in this post, as he didn't make too much of an impact in the first four games, but these last two games saw Barea step up and become a key player. In Game 5, Barea scored 17 points on 6/11 (54.5%) shooting and 4/5 three-point shooting.
Despite the injury, Wade finished the night with 23 points and 8 rebounds while shooting 6/12 from the field, while LeBron James posted his first triple-double of the playoffs with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists while shooting 8/19 (42.1%) from the field. Additionally, Chris Bosh would record 19 points and 10 rebounds while Mario Chalmers would supply 15 points off the bench, shooting 4/6 from three in the process.
Game 6
Mavericks lead 3-2
Throughout the entire playoffs, the Miami Heat had never been on the brink of elimination. They desperately need to win this game to stay alive, and they came out guns blazing, quickly jumping out to a 20-11 lead behind LeBron James going a perfect 4/4 from the field. The Mavericks quickly changed course, switching to a zone defense that shut down Heat's offense, with Miami turning the ball over six times during that time. Dallas took advantage of this and went on a 21-4 run over five and half minutes. Following two back-to-back three-pointers from role player and professional LeBron James-irritant DeShawn Stevenson, the Mavericks led 40-28 with under 10 minutes left in the first half. Miami responded quickly with a 14-0 over three minutes, with veteran guard Eddie House hitting two threes, one of which put the Heat ahead 42-40. The game remained close, with the Mavericks holding a 53-51 lead. However, the Mavericks got that small lead without much help from their best player, Dirk Nowitzki. Nowitzki shot just 1/12 (8.3%) and 0/3 from three, scoring just three points in the first half. Thankfully, Jason Terry came through huge, scoring 19 in the first half while shooting 8/10 and 3/5 from three-point range. Meanwhile, Miami's struggling star LeBron James finally looked really good in the first half, scoring 11 points on 5/9 (55.6%) from the field.
However, LeBron's strong first half didn't carry over to the second, at least not the third quarter, as he'd wouldn't score again until the final two minutes of the period. Meanwhile, Nowitzki immediately found his groove, scoring twice in the first three minutes of the third and led the Mavericks to a 28-21 advantage in the quarter, giving them an 81-72 lead going into. That lead stuck until the end, and when the final buzzer sounded, the Mavericks won 105-95, giving them the storybook ending pretty much everyone outside the 786 wanted. The evil empire had been toppled. David had slain Goliath. The Dallas Mavericks had defeated the Miami Heat and their Big Three. Before the buzzer even sounds, Nowitzki is in the tunnel, tears in his eyes. His 12-year journey from struggling big man in the late 90s to NBA Champion had been completed. The narrative of of not being able to win the big one had been crushed by Nowitzki's 18-point second half.
The championship celebration saw veterans like Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Jason Terry, and Peja Stojaković finally get to call themselves NBA Champions. The Mavericks could finally call themselves NBA Champions after 30 years of trying. Dirk Nowitzki was awarded the Finals MVP by Bill Russell, an all-time great handing off the award to another all-time great. The team may not have made another Finals appearance since this, but that just adds to the anomaly that was the 2011 Dallas Mavericks. By all accounts, nobody expected them to be here, and even fewer people expected them to win it all. They had defied all the odds, went against the idea that you needed multiple all-stars, and took down the team that everyone was ready to crown champions before The Decision even ended. That's what makes this team so special and memorable almost a decade later.
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