By Brenda June Temple
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at the American Airlines Center, which it shares with the NHL‘s Dallas Stars.
Throughout the 1980s, the Mavericks were a perennial playoff team, led by All-Stars Rolando Blackman and Mark Aguirre. The team struggled during the 1990s, entering into a period of rebuilding. In 1998, the franchise’s fortunes would change drastically with the acquisition of Dirk Nowitzki, who would become the cornerstone of the most successful period in franchise history, leading the team to its first NBA Finals appearance in 2006 and its only NBA championship in 2011.
The Mavericks later entered a rebuilding phase in the tail end of Nowitzki’s storied career; although they missed the playoffs in three consecutive years from 2017 to 2019 (after which Nowitzki retired following his record-breaking 21st season with Dallas), the franchise’s fortunes immediately rebounded once again with the acquisition of Luka Dončić (who was named the 2019 Rookie of the Year); the Mavericks returned to the playoffs in 2020, reached the Western Conference finals in 2022 for the first time since their 2011 championship, and reached their third NBA Finals in 2024.
In February 2020, the Mavericks sold out their NBA-record 815th consecutive game, dating back to December 15, 2001. The sellout streak, which includes 67 playoff games, is the longest currently running in North American major league sports.
Since the Mavericks’ inaugural 1980–81 season, the Mavericks have won five division titles (1987, 2007, 2010, 2021, 2024), three conference championships (2006, 2011, 2024) and one NBA championship (2011).
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Archie Bleyer (bandleader) –
- Irwin Allen (director) –
- George H. W. Bush (41st U.S. president) –
- Anne Frank (author) –
- Jim Nabors (actor and singer) –
- Paula Marshall (actress) –
Died
- Leo Buscaglia (self-help guru Dr. Hug”“) –
- Theresa Merritt (actress) –
- Bill Blass (fashion designer) –
- Gregory Peck (actor) –
- Makobo Modjadji VI (the rain queen” of South Africa’s Lobedu tribe. She was the sixth and youngest queen”) –
- Scott Young (journalist) –
- Don Herbert (television’s science teacher Mr. Wizard”“) –
- Jiroemon Kimura (world’s oldest man known, as of June 2013; died at age 116) –
Events
- England created a municipal government in New York–
- Society of Unitarian Christians organized–
- Portsmouth Navy Yard (NH) was established, and later its name was changed to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard–
- Magician Harry Houdini thrilled a large audience by struggling free from a straightjacket, head downward, 40 feet above the ground–
- First man-powered flight across the English Channel was made by Bryan Allen in the Gossamer Albatross–
- President Reagan gave the famous “Tear Down This Wall” speech, Berlin–
- The Chicago Bulls won their first NBA championship title–
- A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck most of Southern California–
- Amy Singley and Steven Smith wed in Pennsylvania. The pair were born on the same day in the same hospital.–
- The Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat to win the NBA championship series for the first time in the franchise’s 31-year history–
Weather
- Lander, Wyoming, had 18.4 inches of heavy, wet snow, a record for this date–
- Floods and mudslides at Salt Lake City, Utah–
- The Cedar River flooded its banks in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, forcing the evacuation of more than 3,000 homes, collapsing a railroad bridge, and submerging cars downtown. An estimated 100 blocks were under water.–
- 113 degrees F in Tribune, Kansas–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
