I will admit, I had my doubts. Sure, the Dallas Mavericks were in the NBA Finals. But could they actually win it? There had been plenty of years of “one and done”, and this team was much older than the one that went to the 2006 Finals.

You knew that something had to be a little different this year when  Mavericks owner Mark Cuban fell silent throughout the playoffs. Either things were about to change, or the end of the world was upon us.

We now know that it was the former. The Dallas Mavericks are the 2011 NBA Champions. They can also now say that they have won their first NBA title.

Prior to last night, there was not one NBA ring to be found on this team. Veterans? Thirty-eight year-old Jason Kidd was in season 17 – but he kept coming back like the “last” season of “Lost”.

But this team was not lost at all. They reminded us that it in an era of huge contracts and little team (or fan base) loyalty, playing as a team is still the most important aspect of a team sport. And the reminder came in the most obvious way as they were up against perhaps the best team of solo players around – the Miami Heat.

The Heat collected three of the game’s superstars to create a virtual Dream Team of sorts. The logic was that if you put enough money on the table and had three players of this caliber playing together, surely a championship wasn’t far off. LeBron James spurned the fan base in Cleveland to take his game to South Beach to play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Regardless of the individual capabilities of each of these stellar players, there is a thing called cohesiveness. You see it when the big games are on the line. Throughout the playoffs, the Heat never really had a tough series. Guess what? The NBA Finals provided them with a real test. It would require more than just a few great solo performances to win this series.

Lo and behold, the better team won – emphasis on the word “team”. Jason Terry scored a game-high 27 points off the bench. Dirk Nowitzki looked almost average, by his standards, but made some clutch shots when they were needed. Role players stepped up. When it came down to crunch time – fourth quarter, Game 6, backs against the wall - the highly-paid Heat triumvirate couldn’t get the job done, and couldn’t seal the deal.

Of course, there are times when a special player can put a team on his shoulders when the game is on the line. Based on Scottie Pippen’s remarks a few weeks ago, you would have thought that that man would be LeBron James.

For those who have now forgotten, Scottie Pippen, owner of 6 NBA rings himself, called James the greatest NBA player ever. This is after having played alongside Michael Jordan. This is after having won all of his 6 NBA rings alongside, you guessed it, Michael Jordan.

Selective memory, Scottie. True colors always seem to show when the biggest games are on the line. Surely he, of all people, would remember that when the game was on the line, Jordan was going to be demanding the rock. He would stick his tongue out and you knew it was over. He would take over a game when it was crunch time.

At this point in NBA history, Jordan has 6 rings, James has zero. There is still plenty of time for James to build a legacy. But a great player would have been able to make a Game 6 performance his personal calling card. Perhaps LeBron is more akin to Pippen than to Jordan – great, Hall of Fame material, but perhaps not the best the game has ever seen.

Photo credits: Wikipedia