Table of Contents

Preface vii

Foreword Mark Cuban viii

Introduction xi

Section I The Original Glory Days (1978 to June 4, 1988)

Chapter 1 Birth of a Franchise 2

Chapter 2 The Expansion Season 19

Chapter 3 Mavs Take Off 36

Chapter 4 Moody Madness 45

Chapter 5 A Bump in the Road 56

Chapter 6 All-Star Success 61

Chapter 7 The Wreck at the Hec 72

Chapter 8 Goodbye Motta, Hello Conference Finals 81

Section II The Gory Days (June 5, 1988 to December 4, 1997)

Chapter 9 From One Mess to Another 91

Chapter 10 The Last Gasp 100

Chapter 11 Going for Broke 106

Chapter 12 The Mav-Wrecks 109

Chapter 13 Motta Returns, Kidd Arrives 121

Chapter 14 The Three Js 129

Chapter 15 Anyone Can Have a Bad Decade, Right? 133

Section III The New Glory Days (February 7, 1997 to Present)

Chapter 16 Mavs Get Their Man: Nelson 141

Chapter 17 Dirk and Steve to the Rescue 150

Chapter 18 The Saga of Leon Smith 159

Chapter 19 Mark Cuban-The NBA's New "Maverick" 163

Chapter 20 Hair Color Aside, Mavs Looking Better 175

Chapter 21 Big-Time Big Three 181

Chapter 22 New-Look Mavs 190

Chapter 23 A Run to Remember 198

Chapter 24 Redemption 210