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The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team is owned by internet entrepreneur Mark Cuban. The Mavericks are also referred to as the "Mavs." The Mavericks recently played in the 2006 NBA Championships losing to the Miami Heat 4-2 after holding a 2-0 series lead. The Dallas Mavericks franchise was first developed by Don Carter and Norm Sonju in 1979, when they requested the right to bring an NBA franchise to Dallas, Texas. The last professional basketball team in Dallas had been the Dallas Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association, which moved to San Antonio in 1973 and became the San Antonio Spurs. At the 1980 NBA All-Star Game, league owners voted to admit the new franchise, and the Mavericks paid a $12 million entry fee to join the NBA for the 1980-81 season. The team's name came from the 1957-1962 TV western Maverick, as James Garner played the namesake character, and was one of the original team owners. They joined the Midwest Division of the Western Conference, where they would remain until the league went to six divisions for the 2004-05 season. Dick Motta, who'd guided the Washington Bullets to the NBA Championship in 1977-78, was hired as the team's first head coach. He had a well-earned reputation of being a stern disciplinarian, but was also a great teacher of the game. By 1998, the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars were indicating their desire for a new facility to replace the quickly-aging Reunion Arena. Dallas taxpayers approved a new hotel tax and rental car tax to pay for a new facility to cover a portion of the funding, with the two teams, the Mavericks and the Stars picking up the remaining costs, including cost overruns. The new arena was to be built just north of Woodall Rodgers Freeway near Interstate 35 on the site of an old power plant. In March of 1999, American Airlines announced that it would be acquiring the naming rights for the new facility. On July 27, 2001, the facility opened with the largest ribbon-cutting ceremony ever, according to the Guinness Book of Records. The first event occurred the next day with an Eagles concert. On the next night, the arena hosted the last show of Michael Flatley's Feet of Flames tour. The first sporting event took place on August 1 with the Dallas Sidekicks of the World Indoor Soccer League taking on the San Diego Sockers. The WWE also held their annual Survivor Series event at the arena in 2003, and regularly hosts events at the arena (generally 1-2 each year).
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