The Dallas Mavericks joined the NBA in 1980-81 and quickly became a competitive franchise. With premium draft selections the team steadily improved through the 1980s-Dallas looked like a team of the future. Then in the early 1990s the Mavericks experienced one of the most precipitous declines in NBA history. The team's descent was so complete that it twice threatened the worst single-season record ever recorded. But with a solid core of young, talented players, the Mavericks should be able to start climbing their way back up the NBA ladder.
Before welcoming the Mavericks in 1980, Dallas had been home to the Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association from 1967-68 to 1972-73. On March 26, 1973, the Chaparrals played the Carolina Cougars in the last ABA game played at Dallas Memorial Auditorium-the paid attendance was 134. The next season the Chaparrals became the San Antonio Spurs, and for the next seven years Dallas was without a professional basketball franchise.