DALLAS — In addition to airing every game of the 2024 NBA Finals on our station, WFAA is also hosting a special presentation called "The Pregame" before each and every matchup in the series. Head here for more information.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals tips off Thursday night in Boston as the Celtics take on the Dallas Mavericks. It seems like an unlikely appearance for the North Texas team that has come together quickly in its push for another championship.
Jason Gallagher was a fan of the Mavs long before Luka Doncic but, he remembers that June 2018 night so well.
“I went to a gas station across the street and I bought I bought a tallboy of something and a cigar really cheap cigar and I took it to the office in case Dallas somehow got Luka. I actually ran out of the production room. No one told me to do this and I was just like, are you guys kidding me?”
Gallagher grew up in North Texas and his fandom began because, “My dad used to say it's cheaper to go to Mavs games than go to the movies and so we would go to Mavs games in Reunion Arena and that's how I initially fell in love with them.”
To witness this team, now just four games away from another Larry O’Brien trophy is special.
“This is a team that was built in about 16 months and is in the Finals, which again, is just completely unprecedented and speaks to just how good Luka Doncic is.”
Watch the full interview with Jason Gallagher here:
He admires so many of the players on the current Mavs roster including Kyrie Irving.
“He's the leader of that locker room and I think that the first terrible thing that Boston fans are going to say. They're all going to get pissed and they're going to play their hearts out for that guy," he said.
Now, they have a few new pieces on the floor that add skill but also swagger.
“The trade that I liked the most is probably the PJ Washington. It's really hard to separate him and Daniel Gafford in a lot of ways because they bring such an edge to the team. That to me is what the team missed." Gallagher said. "Somebody who was going to stand behind Luka with crossed arms and staring at the opponent. Dallas had never really had that before. And I feel like Luka is such a S talker that he needed that in his back, you know.”
When asked when he knew this postseason run would be special, Gallagher replied, “Game two of the Oklahoma City series. Simply because in game one, I went to all of those games, and Dallas just did not look good and then game two showed up and we started to play like ourselves."
WFAA did discover that he cannot play guitar, despite performing a live rendition of a song he wrote called, “Halleluka” live at the American Airlines Center.
“That night was super, super fun because it was one of Luka’s first blowout games like he was a rookie. And that game in particular, I think he was playing really bad in the first half and Tim McMahon with ESPN Dallas came up to me and was like, they're going to blame you if they lose and I was like, oh crap.
"But then he went on a 15-and-0 run by himself. That was the first time we'd seen him do multiple stepback threes in a row. And it was like a truly magical night. So that's pretty cool,” Gallagher smiled.
As for his prediction for the NBA Finals, Gallagher was so sure he proclaimed it twice.
“Mavs in six. Mavs in six. They're going to win it at home on our floor. I trust, motivated Kyrie more than I do just about anybody on the floor. And then to know that Luka is the guy who has his back. It's going to be amazing.”