10 Reasons A NBA Championship Would Mean More  To The Mavs This Season Then Last

This isn’t in any particular order. Here are 10 reasons, that I think a championship this season for the Dallas Mavericks would be more meaningful, or maybe more fun and interesting, then last year’s championship run.

1. This season has been more of a struggle. The Mavericks last season were off to a hot start with Caron Butler when he was healthy. They had one of the best starts in team history. This year, they started off slowly including a blow out loss to the Heat on Christmas Day.
2. Dirk’s struggles. Dirk was too soft and not enough of a leader. This year Dirk is “too old” and over the hill. Charles Barkley made this statement and isn’t laying off his comments either.
3. Lamar Odom’s vindication. Lamar could turn around his season and cement himself as a critical piece of yet another championship season, but with a second franchise. It would do a lot to lift his hall of fame credentials.
4. Vince Carter’s first ring. Last year a group of veteran players whose careers were winding down finished with a ring. That added the missing piece to a lot of players careers. Vince has been a surprisingly exceptional part of Dallas season this year. And this would be the one piece to complete a solid and incredible career for Vince.
5. It means LeBron James would go another season without a ring. And assuming the Miami Heat would make it to the NBA Finals again. Dirk Nowitzki could become LeBron James’ version of Eli Manning. Eli of course has beaten Tom Brady twice on the big stage. That could do a lot for Dirk’s legacy if he beat LeBron and Miami’s Big 3 twice in the NBA Finals.
6. Jason Kidd could retire on top. Kidd came back this season to try and win it all again. If Kidd won it again a second year in a row Kidd could retire on top, like John Elway did after back to back Super Bowl wins.
7. Dirk’s legacy. Last year’s championship run had a lot more integral pieces. Tyson Chandler got a lot of credit for bringing a different defensive attitude to the team. JJ Barea was the spark plug off the bench. If they won it again with Dirk at the helm, could cement his legacy as a leader. Especially when there is a lot of speculation that the Maverick’s aren’t making moves to really pursue a championship in the attempt to save cap space for the big free agent targets of 2012, Deron Williams and Dwight Howard.
8. Not only did Delonte West allegedly bang LeBron’s mom, if the Mav’s won it all West would get a ring before James did. Got to love the thought of Delonte sticking it to LeBron again.
9. Dynasty talk. It would meant the Mavericks played in 4 conference finals, and 3 NBA finals in under 10 years. It would cement this teams place as one of the best. They have 11 seasons with over 50 wins in that stretch too. One of only 4 franchises to accomplish that feat. The rest all won multiple championships, the Mavericks have only won one. The 80’s Lakers won 5, Tim Duncan and the Spurs won 4, and Bill Russell and the Celtics won 11, during those franchise’s double digit run of 50+ win seasons.
10. Free Agency 2012. Don’t you think Dwight Howard and Deron Williams would be more attracted to playing in Dallas following a season where Dirk and the Mavericks won a second consecutive championship with arguably a lesser team, with lesser parts from last year’s championship run. It’d make Dallas pretty desirable, and cement Dallas’ dynasty status, but put it in a great position to continue to be a dynasty for years to come.

Honorable Mention:

Mark Cuban handled things the right way last year. Cuban was classy, letting Don Carter receive the trophy. He picked up the tab for the parade. What would he do the second time around. David Stern would surely have to hand the trophy over to Cuban this time around. Wouldn’t he try to out do himself? I’m sure having done it once, he knows how he’d improve upon it a second time around.