2011 NBA Finals: Time to Respect the NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks are NBA champions after defeating the Miami Heat four games to two. Yes I said they defeated the Heat. Not "the heat gave it to them," or "the better team didn't try as hard."

The Mavericks are the best team in the NBA. No debates, no excuses, no exceptions. Dallas is the NBA champion and it is time to treat them as such.

All season long the Mavericks have been underestimated. Sure they had their tenth straight 50 win season, but they always choke in the playoffs right? Dallas was the favorite to get upset in the first round against Portland. Well they won that series and went on to sweep the Lakers. Still, that series was dismissed because apparently the Lakers did not bring their best effort. This is the 2x defending champions we are talking about here. Even partial effort is putting up a fight.

As Dallas rolled on past OKC the rest of the world was focused on the Miami Heat since they considered the series' against the Celtics and Bulls to be the real challenge. I even heard the comment that the Heat-Celtics series should have been the real championship. I'm not here to discredit any team but I want people to open their eyes. When the championship rolled around it was like Christopher Columbus discovering the western world.

Dallas got to the championship the same way the Heat did, by easily beating difficult opponents. They had one less win than the Heat during the regular season but swept Miami 2-0. Dallas was also one of the best road teams in the league.

I have heard so many reasons why the Mavericks do not deserve your respect that I could write a book. Apparently to some, Dallas is not a strong team but just one player. Well game 6 of the finals proves that farce as Dirk went 9-27 and yet the supporting cast led them to an easy victory. Dallas has also been without it's second best player Caron Butler, who averaged 14 ppg before being injured at the end of the regular season. Someone always stepped up to get the win, whether it was Marion and Chandler's D, Peja's flash of a hot hand, J.J.'s shot of energy, Terry's quick scoring, Kidd's calm leadership, or Dirk's sweet shooting. That is what makes a team, no debate. Especially since many who made this claim were comparing to the Heat who lived and died by only three of their players. 

No, this was not Miami's championship to lose. They were a team that had struggled all year against teams with positive records and just began to make a run for part of the playoffs. Frankly I don't give a damn if they stopped trying or choked. I'm from Minnesota and two years ago my Vikings looked poised to win the Superbowl. Nobody in the world would defend me if I went around knocking the Saints because my team had more talent but just choked. At the end of the day, one team is a winner and one isn't. Honestly, insisting that your team choked just makes them look worse.

Miami is a great team. They have everything it takes to win a future championship. But they didn't this year. Potential does not make anyone a champion so the heat will have to wait and get better. Dallas proved beyond doubt they were the better team so the Heat can either wait for Dallas to get worse, or improve.

Before I end this I want to correct a few more attempts to belittle the Mavericks.

"Dirk is not a superstar, and he always chokes." I don't need to bring up stats, just this. He out-played all three of the heat's superstars and unlike two of those three he has a ring. And I'm not even going mention the name of a single Heat player in this article because the media has said enough about them all season long.

"The Mavs got all the calls." In game 6 the Heat went 20-33 from the line. Dallas went 12-18. Don't act like this was rigged.

"Dallas got lucky." Lucky is one win. Not 57 wins in the regular season. Not almost as many away wins as the Heat had at home. Not 16 for 21 in the playoffs, not 6 for 8 in total games against the Heat, and not 4-2 in the finals with a dominant clinching away game six. Call it skill, call it heart, call it teamwork, but it is not luck.

I'm sure everyone will soon go back to talking about the Heat, but for now lets talk about the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks.