Dallas Mavericks Trade For Dirk Nowitzki And Steve Nash

On June 24, 1998, the Dallas Mavericks pull off one of the greatest draft day trades of all time, acquiring not one but two franchise players in one fell swoop. 

In what was essentially a three-team trade involving the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns, the Dallas Mavericks received Dirk Nowitzki (the ninth pick in the draft) from the Milwaukee Bucks for Robert "Tractor" Traylor (the sixth pick in the draft) and Pat Garrity; the Mavs then traded Garrity, two throw-in players, and a future first round draft pick to the Suns for Steve Nash.

The move, orchestrated by Dallas head coach Don Nelson, was a brilliant one. Steve Nash went from being an above-average backup to becoming the best point guard in the NBA. Nowitzki became the most versatile seven-footer the league had ever seen and was the first European-born player to win the MVP. 

With the help of those two, the Mavericks went from one of the most inept franchises in the league to a perennial powerhouse in the Western Conference.

 

Steve Nash would later return to Phoenix as a free agent, where he won two MVP awards and turned the franchise around. 

The Bucks, on the other hand, did not get a consolation prize. Tractor Traylor played only seven seasons in the NBA and had a career average of 4.8 points per game -- miles away from Dirk Nowitzki, who averaged 26.6 per game in 2006.

Bucks fans would rue the trade for years to come. Had they not traded away Nowitzki and instead teamed him with their big three of Ray Allen, Sam Cassell, and Glenn Robinson -- a team that would go to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2001 -- the Bucks would have been a championship-caliber team. Instead they watched in agony as the Mavericks advanced to the NBA Finals in 2006, while their team struggled just to stay relevant.

Nowitzki has since won an NBA title with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, beating the Miami Heat in six games to win himself, Mark Cuban the Mavericks general manager and the fans of Dallas basketball franchise their first NBA Championship. Nowitzki also won the NBA MVP in 2007, along with being named an NBA All-Star 11 times.

Nash has since went on to win two NBA MVP’s in 2005 and 2006, as a member of the Phoenix Suns, where he was traded in 2004, as well as being named to eight NBA All-Star games.

Golden State Warriors Upset The Dallas Mavericks

On May 3, 2007, the Golden State Warriors completed one of the biggest upsets in sports history with a game-six win, taking the Western Conference Quarterfinals from the NBA Leading Dallas Mavericks.

It all started in April though, the Golden State Warriors were done. After a one-point loss in Washington, where the deciding point came from a technical foul by head coach Don Nelson in the final seconds, the Warriors had lost six in a row. They were nine games under .500 and Nelson was already looking ahead to the next season.



The Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Dallas Mavericks in 2007.

But in their next game, the team - fresh off of a trade in which they acquired Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington. They Warriors into Detroit, one of the best teams in the NBA at the time, and destroyed them, leading by 26 at point.

Golden State won 16 of their final 21 games and nine of their last ten to advance to the postseason for the first time in 13 years.

The Warriors met the Dallas Mavericks in the first round, a team Don Nelson had coached only a few years earlier. The Warriors were the only team to beat the Mavericks three times and had won six of the last seven meetings with them.

But with the Warriors as an eight-seed, and the Mavericks as the best team in basketball, no one gave them much of a chance.

Nevertheless, the upset took place. Backed by a raucous home crowd, the Warriors defeated the Mavericks in just six games. Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson, and Matt Barnes had the series of their lives, while the Mavericks appeared rattled by the Warriors’ unorthodox style.

 Baron Davis and the "We Believe" crowd at Oracle after a Game 6 upset of the Dallas Mavericks.

Nelson went small-ball on the Mavs, playing small forward Al Harrington at center, shooting guard Stephen Jackson at power forward, and Monta Ellis at shooting guard.

In the end, their frenetic style was simply too much for the Mavs. On May 3, the Warriors completed the upset by crushing the Mavericks, 111-86 in Game 6. It was the first time in American sports that a team that won 25 games less than its opponent went on to win the playoff series.

In the second round they faced Jerry Sloan's Utah Jazz, who muscled their way to a five-game series win. It was a one-shot wonder for the Warriors, who lost most of their roster only a few years later. As for the Mavs, they remained competitive, but another early exit in 2008 cost head coach Avery Johnson his job.

The Golden State Warriors once again made the playoffs this year, the second time in as many years, and once again faced an uphill battle against the Los Angeles Clippers.

However this year the Warriors playoff series was almost derailed by the shameful remarks that former Clippers owner Donald Sterling made.

Game 7 of the series between the Warriors and Clippers is tonight at the Staples Center in L.A.

Lenny Wilkens Sets NBA Record

On March 1, 1996, NBA head coach Lenny Wilkens becomes the first coach in NBA history to record 1,000 regular season NBA victories. Wilkens would go on compile 1,332 wins and be the winningest coach of all time until the 2009-2010 season, when former Golden State Warriors head coach Don Nelson would pass him with 1,335.

Lenny Wilkens in 2004 as a coach for the New York Knicks.

After 30 seasons as an NBA head coach, Wilkens left the bench with his last stop being the Toronto Raptors in the 2002-2003 season. He would come back in the 2004-2005 season to coach the New York Knicks, but after a slow start, would retire from the team on Jan. 22, 2005.

Wilkens, had coached 2,046 regular season games, 164 playoff games, and four NBA All-Star games, making him the only head coach in NBA history with more than 2,000 games under his belt.

Wilkens trailed only Major League Baseball’s, Connie Mack, 53 years, John McGraw 33 years, National Football League’s George Halas, 40 years, Curly Lambeau, 33 years, and Don Shula, 33 years, for the longest tenure as a head coach in a major professional sports league.