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.
As the Dallas Mavericks prepare to play in the 2024 NBA Finals with the hopes of bringing the franchise its second Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy, it's a reminder of how far the team has come since it entered the league as an expansion team.
The NBA added Dallas as an expansion team before the 1980-81 season, with Texas already having both the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets at the time. The franchise entered the league with a team name it still has today: Mavericks.
A team in Dallas was initially going to be added to the league along with a team in Minneapolis. However, the potential owners for that Minnesota team backed out, making the Mavs the sole new NBA team for that 1980-81 season. Businessman Don Carter would become the founding owner of the team, paying the league $12.5 million as the expansion fee.
The Mavs entered the league as one of the 12 teams in the league's Western Conference and one of the six teams in the Midwest Division. Dick Motta was the head coach that season as the team played at Reunion Arena in Dallas.
The Mavs first regular season home game happened on Oct. 11, 1980, against the San Antonio Spurs. The team won 103-92.
However, before that in-state rivalry matchup, Dallas played its first official home game in a preseason game on Sept. 26, 1980, against the Philadelphia 76ers. Their opponent included NBA Hall of Famers Julius Erving and Mo Cheeks along with NBA legend Darryl Dawkins.
The Mavs ended up losing the game 113-108.
WFAA has found archived footage of part of this first home game in franchise history.