It could’ve been better, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Eight years ago today, my team, the Dallas Mavericks, won the NBA title.

Since then, we haven’t even won a single playoff series. I watched as we wasted the last of Dirk Nowitzki’s remaining productive years, the roster a revolving door of just-decent players (Monta Ellis, Harrison Barnes) at best, and old and/or busted ones (Deron Williams, Amar’e Stoudemire, Rajon Rondo) at worst.

Even our most exciting free agency capture ever was perma-crocked, with my final feelings on Chandler Parsons that of relief that we didn’t give him another big contract and instead let the Memphis Grizzlies do it. This, coming from someone excited enough at the time to describe the team’s pursuit of him as “addictive”.

It was a rather mediocre existence the Mavs led from 2012 to 2017. The team always flattered to deceive, putting together teams that looked good on paper (remember O.J. Mayo?) but which never went anywhere. We built players like Al-Farouq Aminu and Seth Curry up, only to see them leave as soon as free agency hit. Our trades were either inconsequential or actively hurt us. The Lamar Odom and Rajon Rondo transactions essentially snuffed out all hope of a contending team in Dirk’s last few seasons.

I loved Rondo before he came to Dallas. Now? FOH.

As far as league-wide attention went, we were pretty much non-existent. I never stopped supporting the team and I still regularly watched Dallas games, but I admit that my enthusiasm waned a bit.

(Luckily, I was assigned the Andrew Bogut beat in 2015-16 for The Pick and Roll. Got to watch a lot of good and fun basketball thanks to that.)

We kept trading away draft picks, and were hardly bad enough to get really high selections anyway. This meant that, for a good long while, friggin’ Justin Anderson was the only glimmer of youthful hope we had.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the dude – he seems like a bright and positive young man. But a franchise-changing talent he is not.

Dennis Smith Jr. then came along, but the obvious flaws in his game tempered any high expectations fans might have had. It may be a bit harsh to say of someone who just completed his second pro season, but DSJ is still very much more ‘potential’ than ‘valuable contributor’.

Here’s where I thank Giannis Antetokounmpo for becoming the superstar he is today.

Mark Cuban nixed general manager Donnie Nelson’s suggestion to pick Giannis in the 2013 NBA Draft, all to save money to chase Dwight Howard.

Jesus Christ.

Thankfully, that chicken coop’s worth of eggs on his face meant that he shut up in 2018 and empowered Nelson to go ahead and trade up to select Luka Dončić. And oh my god what a refreshing blast of cool air it’s been to witness the birth of Dončić’s NBA career on the team I support.

Dončić is a star in every way: he puts up numbers, he hits buzzer-beaters, he’s getting praise from veterans, and he’s inspiring memes:

Credit: Reddit

What’s more: not only is he a good player, he’s a fun player. And having a young and truly exciting player who’s a perfect fit for the modern game means that the Dallas Mavericks are relevant again. We are finally worth a damn after so many years.

Of course, there are still many question marks about the future. Can Luka continue to develop, or is this more or less all he is? How healthy is Kristaps Porziņģis, and are his off-court issues for real? And even if these two guys come good, will the front office be able to maximize their talents with a great supporting cast or a third star?

I’ll tell you hwat though: these are great problems to have. I can’t emphasize enough how much fun and how energizing this past season was to experience, even with Dirk retiring at the end of it. Luka’s just that damn good, and the team has a chance to be special again.

And after eight years of total irrelevance, a chance is all I need.

That’s just the essence of fandom, isn’t it? Sticking with a team through its low points just makes the good times that much better.

For all my talk of irrelevance, I guess the last few years really weren’t useless after all. Much like how all of Dirk’s troubles made the 2011 win so much sweeter for him, perhaps all this time spent waiting will lead to something special.

Eight years on, I can dream again.