San Antonio leads the field with 1225 victories over the previous 24 years, or 51 victories annually. Their four titles, six 60-win seasons, and two MVP awards throughout that time attest to their legendary status. The fact that the Mavericks have easily been the second-best regular season club since the turn of the century deserves greater discussion.
With 1153 victories (48 annually), Dallas is 46 wins ahead of Boston in third place and 110 ahead of the Lakers in sixth. The Mavericks, who have been the second-most dominating team for almost 25 years, are not in a competition for second place. However, the Lakers, Spurs, Warriors, and Heat are the first teams that spring to mind when discussing the 2000s and 2010s. That has a lot—possibly even all—to do with playoff success, given each of those clubs has captured a championship at least three times since 2000. Despite their shining record, Dallas is left behind because of the way that modern ring culture contradicts many of the accomplishments made during the regular season.
It’s common knowledge that winning championships is the hardest thing in sports and sets the standard for sustained success. Although it is the ultimate objective, one could argue that maintaining regular-season dominance, like the Mavericks have done since 2000, is much more difficult to accomplish. Historically, not many teams have been able to regularly win, whether it be due to injury, roster change, or even talent aging. Over 50 games were won by the Mavericks between 2001 and 2011 (11 seasons). There are just two teams that have ever had a streak that length, and the Spurs were one of them from 2000 to 2017 (18 seasons total). Dallas succeeded in spite of having three different coaches, which is the difference.
Their success is partially attributed to their good fortune in having two generational players in Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic. But a lot of it is on Mark Cuban, who changed the team’s culture and finally left when it was appropriate. He was faithful, often to the point of being annoying, and frequently made the correct moves. He was the catalyst for it all, and the Mavericks ended up winning a lot as a consequence. Dallas deserves a place on Mount Rushmore when it comes to the teams who have dominated the modern age, even though they may not have the title rings to compete with some of the other organizations.
