Lone Star Champions

Image by Keith Allison via FlickrThe Dallas Mavericks won their first NBA title Sunday night with a 105-95 victory over the Miami Heat, claiming their series in six games before a relatively quiet sea of white shirts at American Airlines Center.

Dirk Nowitzki, who has had an impressive playoff run whether he was well enough to play or not, was the league's Finals MVP.  He scored 21 points during Game 6 while teammate Jason Terry led the Mavericks with 27.  Nowitzki waited five years for another shot at NBA glory after the Heat defeated Dallas to win the 2006 title.  Well, he got his along with Jason Kidd, an 18-year veteran who had also never won a trophy.

Owner Mark Cuban became rich and famous through his many businesses, and for mouthing off about the state of the Mavericks and the quality of NBA officials, resulting in writing numerous checks to commissioner David Stern.  Finally, all of Cuban's money to pay for premium players has resulted in a championship.  But he has been noticeably silent during the playoffs.  Was he afraid of getting fined again?

While it would have been awkward to see Stern hand the Lawrence O'Brien trophy to Cuban, just like baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn presented the World Series trophy to Oakland A's owner Charlie Finley and NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle handing the Vince Lombardi trophy to Raiders owner Al Davis, Cuban avoided it by having original Mavericks owner Donald Carter accept the NBA trophy.  Maybe it wasn't a choice?

As for the Heat, all the ballyhoo surrounding the mega-trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh resulted in 72 regular-season wins and no title.  In the championship round, they dropped their final three games to Dallas by running out of gas near the end.  So leaving Cleveland to win a championship seemed like a good idea at the time.  Isn't that right, LeBron?

The Heat, and the rest of the NBA, face an uncertain future.  The collective bargaining agreement expires soon, which means that they might be joining their NFL brethren on the sidelines as the owners lock them out.  And whatever agreement does come from this, you're not going to see another super team like the Heat suck the air out of the rest of the league anytime soon.