Dallas Mavericks Are The NBA Champs!

LeBron James took his talents to South Beach and joned Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to form a superstar laden Big Three that was supposed to start an NBA dynasty in Miami. .

Somebody forgot to tell the Dallas Mavericks that this was supposed to be a title coronation for 'the Heatles' and King James.

As ESPN NFL analyst Herman Edwards once said when he was an NFL coach, 'that's why you play the games'.

If the two time defending NBA champion LA Lakers getting swept and pimp slapped in the Game 4 Western Conference semis clincher in Dallas didn't send the message that this 2010-11 Mavericks team was a little different than previous Dallas NBA squads, then peeps weren't paying attention or discounted they had the heart of a champion.

The North Texas NBA franchise founded in 1980 finally has their first NBA championship trophy after beating Miami 105-95 in their building to take Game 6 and the 2010-11 NBA title to go with it.

Just a reminder Little D, the Rockets have two, the Spurs have four. 

Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki, the lone players remaining from that squad exorcised the ghosts of 2006 NBA finals failure to the delight of probably every Heat hater in the country and especially Cleveland while avenging the Miami title win on their home floor five years ago.

It was also cool to see Jason Kidd finally get his ring after 17 years of chasing it.

Hey Dallas Maverick fans, no championship parade riots this time, okay?

WNBA Makes History Again With New League President

The WNBA tipped off its 15th season last night and the rest of the league's team get in the action today.  

But when Laurel J. Richie took over as the third president of the WNBA on May 16, one of the things that escaped the notice of most media outlets is that she became the first African American (male or female) to head a major American sports league.   She's not only the first African-American president of the WNBA, she's also the first one who wasn't a basketball player herself.

Richie's roots are in the business world as a veteran marketing executive who last worked as the Chief Marketing Officer of the Girl Scouts of America.    She also worked for the national advertising agency, Ogilvy & Mather and developed advertising campaigns for such companies as American Express and Pepperidge Farm.

Those skills will suit her well in her current position as WNBA president.   One of the jobs she'll have will be to continue marketing of the WNBA to the mainstream sports audience.

"The WNBA is comprised of the best female basketball players in the world, and I'm looking forward to working with these talented women as they strive to achieve their professional goals both on and off the court."

 As when y'all finally get around to expansion, hope Houston's at the top of the list for cities to return to.

Brittney Griner In Mix For 2012 Olympic Basketball Team

As you TransGriot readers are aware of, I'm a big hoops fan, especially on the women's side.

I've been following the career of my hometown lady baller Brittney Griner ever since one of my readers told me about the viral YouTube videos of her dunking on her high school competition enroute to taking Aldine Nimitz to the Class 5A state finals a few years ago.

The evolution of Brittney continues as she along with Gonzaga point guard Courtney Vandersloot were invited to attend a recent three day training camp for the USA national squad in Las Vegas as the road to determining who will make up the 12 woman squad in London next summer starts .

She was the only collegiate player there in Vegas and bad news rest of FIBA basketball world, she is in the mix to be on either next summer's or a future final twelve woman USA Olympic b-ball squad or a USA FIBA championship team. .   

And yes, despite the rough first day of camp,  the current national squad players and coaches were excited about the prospects of Brittney's 2.08 meter frame (6' 8" inches for the metrically challenged) blocking shots and patrolling the lane for us either at the London Olympics or the 2014 FIBA world championship in Turkey


"Brittney made tremendous progress in the three days she was here," said USA coach Geno Auriemma. "The first day she was completely lost and out of it. The second day she looked like a completely different person. Each time she's together with us you'll see her get better and better and better. Her size, her length are impact things."

"She does a spin move from the free-throw line, takes one dribble and slams it with two hands," coach Jennifer Gillom said. "’I said, I’m done.’ she got my respect right away. Wow, that was amazing. I’ve never experienced anything like that with any player. That was quite impressive. This kid has a future, an unbelievable future. To think what she could become is amazing. I’m telling you, this kid is something special, very special."

"She is the most special player I’ve ever seen," Diana Taurasi said. "She will be a help in 2012. She will."

And it's going to be fun watching her play..