Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center
The American Airlines Center (also known as "the AAC") has been the home of the Dallas Mavericks since it opened in 2001. The Mavs share the arena with the Dallas Stars of the NHL®, and both teams moved to the American Airlines Center from their previous home at Reunion Arena.
The Mavericks and Stars pushed for a new arena in 1998, and Dallas taxpayers approved a hotel tax and rental car tax to pay for a portion of the construction costs. American Airlines bought the naming rights to the arena in March of 1999, six months before construction of the facility broke ground.
Dallas Mavericks 2022-23 Season
Conference: Western
Division: Southwest
Year Founded: 1980
Team Colors: Royal Blue, Navy Blue, Silver, Black
Dallas Mavericks History
The Mavericks joined the NBA as an expansion franchise in the 1980-81 season, becoming the third NBA team in Texas -- joining the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets. The Mavericks struggled in their inaugural season, but quickly improved in the subsequent years.
Their win totals increased in each of their first four seasons. Led by Mark Aguirre, who became the franchise's first All-Star, they reached the playoffs for the first time in the 1983-84 season. They beat the Seattle SuperSonics in their first playoff series before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round.
The Mavericks went on to qualify for the playoffs for five consecutive seasons, culminating in a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 1987-88. They came within one win of the NBA Finals, losing to the Lakers in seven games.
They struggled throughout the '90s, but as that decade closed, a new era began. The Mavericks acquired Dirk Nowitzki in 1998, and ownership of the team was sold to outspoken billionaire Mark Cuban in January of 2000.
Cuban immediately began to revitalize the franchise, building around a central trio of Nowitzki, point guard Steve Nash, and wing Michael Finley. In Cuban's first year owning the Mavericks, they made the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. This began a streak in which they qualified for the playoffs for 12 consecutive seasons.
In that span, the Mavericks advanced to their first NBA Finals in the 2005-06 season, where they fell in six games to the Miami Heat. They got their revenge five years later, when they defeated the Heat in six games to win the only NBA Championship in franchise history.
Nowitzki retired in 2019 and passed the torch to Luka Dončić, who's led the Mavericks to three straight playoff berths ever since, including the 2022 Western Conference Finals. Dončić earned First Team All-NBA honors for the third straight season in 2021-22, averaging 28.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 8.7 assists per game as the Mavs finished fourth place in the West with a 52-30 record.