Well Dallas Mavericks, you finally did it! Thirty-one years after you entered the NBA you now can sit back and soak it all in. It has been a long wait for the basketball fans of this region. Sure, championships have not been as hard to come by in, certain, other major sporting leagues. The National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys have 5 Super Bowl Championships in all, which is second only behind the Pittsburgh Steelers. Even the Dallas Stars have one National Hockey League Title from the 1998/98 season they got to hoist the Stanley Cup. Dallas NBA fans now have something to hang their cowboy hats on too, but have a long way to go in order to catch America’s team

Dallas Football owns the most wealth when it comes to championships. The Cowboys first championship came in 1971 when they defeated the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VI. This was followed up 6 years later when they won their second against the Denver Broncos. The Cowboys then would find their stride in the 90s. Here they won three Vince Lombardi Trophies and the nice rings that come with the territory as well. This all occurred in a four-year span from 1992 to 1995 and made the Cowboys America’s team.Through that time period Dallas had a big three that helped make this all possible.

The names are impossible to forget during this time period. At quarterback was the strong-armed Troy Aikman. His poise was equally as strong as his toughness. Thrown to the wolves early in his career, he endured hard hits year after year. Remember, this was a time that a hit to a quarterback’s helmet was a good hit or at least more tolerable. The same hits today would set the defense back 15 yards and would set the defender back about $15,000. Concussions ended up ending Troy’s career, but not before he collected all that Superbowl hardware and put up monster numbers that would eventually land him in Canton Ohio’s Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The final two pieces to add to field general Troy Aikman’s puzzle were running back Emmit Smith and Troy’s favorite target Michael Irvin. Michael was a fast and lanky receiver who was a true showman. His vertical leap and size made him perfect to jump up and get the ball at its highest point. His energy and love for the game was infectious and spread like wildfire throughout the locker room. Between long bombs from Troy to Irvin were long runs by Smith. Smith was undersized and under-appreciated when he arrived in the league. When he left Smith would leave being the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, a record he still holds to this day. Both all-star players would go on to join Troy in Canton’s hall.

The attention, at least for now, is on a different Dallas three who play on a different Dallas team. The Dallas Mavericks are now the NBA’s champs led by court general Dirk Nowitski whose favorite target is Jason Terry. Running the ball between them is the ageless Jason kid who, like Emmit, is not letting his size or age stop him from reaching record milestones. Like the Cowboys threesome at least 2 of these players, Dirk and Kidd, are pretty much locks for the NBA’s hall of fame. Time will tell if, and when, this happens or if the Mavericks will win it all again. They certainly have a lot of catching up to do to be America’s team, but for now they can be proud to be Dallas’s team.