Dallas Mavericks: Reliving Their NBA Championship 1 Year Later

Ladies and gentlemen, after a long sprint to the finish line, we've finally made it to the NBA Finals.

And my, what a series we have to look forward to.

Hopefully this one will stretch to a full seven games.

The rightful owner of the Larry O'Brien trophy will be decided in a championship series that will determine the future fate of either the Oklahoma City Thunder or Miami Heat in the lure of basketball immortality; a championship series that hasn't seen this much anticipation and excitement in a long time.

How could you not be excited for what may transpire over the next week and a half? OKC is trying to show the world that they are the next dynasty in the NBA, while superstar Kevin Durant is making his case for consideration as the best player in the NBA.

In the meanwhile, you have the Heat's Big Three, led by the outstanding postseason play of LeBron James, who looks to finally take his self-proclaimed place on his throne and forever be called King James.

Every season, as the NBA Finals come around, avid basketball fans and historians love to revisit the greatest series matchups and moments that are forever etched into our memories.

We look back at the historical figures in the game like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, and see the moments they created, moments that continue to give us the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful game of basketball.

And as fans, we also remember certain dates, dates the significance of which we will never forget.

For Dallas Mavericks fans, June 12, 2011 is one of those dates

Care to follow me on a journey down memory lane?

Let's start with a quick pit stop in 2006. After the infamous screw job that was the '06 Finals, there was only one team that Dallas could face when playing for the NBA championship in order to get the redemption they rightfully deserved—the Heat.

It didn't matter how the roster changed from 2006 to 2011, as Jason Terry so eloquently put it. The Miami Heat were still the same franchise that coasted their way to four straight wins and their first championship, after starting out trailing 2-0.

The chance to get redemption could not have been any greater.

Not only did this group of Mavericks—who had never won a championship in their careers—have a chance to win a title, but they could do it against the team who had been wearing the biggest target on their backs since July 2010.

And not only did Dallas go into that finals series looking for redemption, but they were more than battle tested and ready for the challenge, after taking down Portland, sweeping the Lakers and knocking off OKC in the conference finals. So everything was indeed in place for the Mavs to shock the world.

But for the first 88 minutes of the series, it was looking more like Dallas would be swept by Miami. Dwyane Wade hit a corner three-pointer with under eight minutes left, Miami went up by 15, and they started celebrating as if they had already won the game.

Then again, just sitting in front of the television watching that game, Mavs fans had a tiny bit of hope that Dallas would somehow come back and steal that game.

And before you knew it, they did. Dirk Nowitzki made a layup to tie the game, hit the go-ahead three with 27 seconds left, and made the layup heard all around the world, and all with a damaged finger on his left hand.

Just like that, the series was tied at one.

After a tough loss in Game 3, the Mavs took Game 4, a game in which Dirk played with a 102-degree fever and still managed to hit the game-winning basket to tie the series at 2-2.

The Mavs took Game 5 as well, cheered on by the loudest crowd I've ever heard. Their Game 5 win set the stage for the moment that was five years in the making: sweet redemption.

The calendar turned to June 12.

I made my way to my friend's house, after spending all day at my computer reading every tweet that was even remotely related to that night's upcoming game.

I didn't say a word to anyone until tip-off.

As a die-hard Mavs fan since more than 10 years ago, when Mark Cuban bought the team, I had waited forever for the opportunity to call my team NBA Champions.

And I could only sit and hope that that long-awaited moment would come. While sitting, I was filled with excitement, fear and nervousness—excitement for the possibility of a championship, fear that the Mavs would lose and the series would go to a Game 7, and nervousness trying to keep my composure in a house that wasn't even mine (therefore, I wouldn't be able to break stuff were the Mavs to lose).

The first half turned into a feeling of "scared out of my mind," as Dirk couldn't hit any shot to save his life from the field.

All of the shots he had made throughout the playoffs weren't falling, and everyone began to wonder if his magic had finally run out. 

Dallas managed to stay in contention at the end of the first half with a 53-51 lead.

With the game nowhere near close to over, it was starting to look like Miami would make the comeback and take control. The Mavs had a difficult time closing out games that season. But in the third quarter the Dallas defense did it all, and made it easy for the offensive side of the ball.

Every time Miami made a basket that could have swayed the momentum, Dallas responded right back.

Dirk finally got into a groove and hit a couple of baskets, including a three-pointer from the top of the key that gave Dallas a six-point lead. Moments later, Jason Kidd matched him with his own three to give Dallas a nine-point lead.

And when Ian Mahinmi made that 16-footer at the buzzer to end the third, you just knew that nothing could go wrong for Dallas.

The time continued to tick down in the fourth quarter, and I started to feel uneasy about the whole situation. I wasn't going to be satisfied until the final buzzer sounded and the championship trophy was raised.

But with 3:39 left, Dirk put the nail in the coffin that would eventually seal the deal, right in Chris Bosh's face. And in the slowest 3:39 of my life, the team I had cheered for since I was a young child had finally done what no one believed they could do—the won a championship.

You always look for the images that you will never forget when you witness something amazing like that.

I will always remember the epic win in Game 2, where Dirk hit the go-ahead three and the game-winning layup to complete that 15-point comeback.

I will always remember Game 4, when Dirk played with a crazy fever and still managed to lead Dallas to  the win that tied the series.

But the two images I will remember the most from that series are Terry hitting that three in Game 5 to seal the win, in LeBron's face, with under a minute to go, and the hug between Dirk and JET in Game 6 as time ran out and they knew that they had finally avenged their loss from five years before.

It's funny to look back on this a year later and see how quickly time has passed us by. For the first two months after the Mavs won the title, the win still felt fresh in my mind, as if it were still the beginning of June.

And even after a year has gone by, and even though they're no longer the champions, I'm still proud to call myself a Dallas Mavericks fan, and am always happy to reminisce about that 2010-11 season and revisit the moments that made me scream at the top of my lungs on more than one occasion.

I hope that OKC fans understand the opportunity that lies in front of them. You have a chance to witness your first championship in your team's short five years of existence, with many more possible chances in the years to come.

Miami fans, too, have an opportunity; the opportunity to watch the Big Three win their first championship together.

When your team has a chance to send a significant statement to everyone, you need to revel in the moment and enjoy it. Take it from us Mavs fans—we learned that last year.

I encourage every Dallas fan to sit back, relax, and enjoy Game 1 of the NBA Finals later tonight, but not before you go on YouTube and watch some old footage of last year's amazing run.

Just for today, enjoy a nice flashback to the moments that will forever remind you of when the Mavs were the champions.

Hopefully there will be more winning moments to come.