The Dallas Mavericks’ 2011 title run will stand out as one of the most historic championships in NBA history.
With European legend Dirk Nowitzki carrying most of the load, a little help from spark plug Jason Terry, and Tyson Chandler anchoring the defensive end, the Dallas Mavericks managed to make it out of the West, and beat the newly-formed Miami Heat superteam in 6 games in the NBA Finals, denying LeBron James his first title for at least one more year.
The championship win pretty much changed the public’s perception of Dirk Nowitzki, who was considered a soft European big man who couldn’t play defense and couldn’t win anything before the title, to one of the best international players ever and a bonafide Hall Of Famer, and Dallas legend.
It’s obvious that the Mavs overcame some pretty big odds to take home the Larry O’Brien trophy that year, but after this week’s NBA Awards show, and subsequent crowning of James Harden as the 2018 NBA MVP, the Mavericks’ run becomes even more impressive.
As pointed out by Reddit user WinnerPlaysTCU, Dallas defeated 5 different MVP winners on their way to the title in 2011.
In the second round, Dallas swept the reigning NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, who had 2008 MVP Kobe Bryant on the roster, then faced the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, who had future MVP’s Kevin Durant (2014), Russell Westbrook (2017) and James Harden (2018) playing, defeating them in 5 games, and the beat the Miami Heat, who had four-time MVP LeBron James (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013), in 6 games.
The fact that the Mavs managed to beat out all of that competition in one single playoff run, with one All-Star on the roster no less, makes Dallas’ 2011 championship one of the most improbable and impressive in NBA history.
