Championship Banner Will Be Raised but No Rings Yet on Opening Night for Dallas Mavericks

After almost six months of NBA lockout, fans of the reigning World Champions Dallas Mavericks can now see their first championship banner raised in the rafters of American Airlines Center. Owners of Dallas Mavericks tickets are definitely excited with this one. The Mavericks will open their season against the Miami Heat, the team they defeated in last year’s finals. This game will be on Christmas Day, the day the entire NBA will open its 2011-2012 season, which would definitely be nice treat for Dallasloyalists. Other games that will happen on December 25 will be against the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, the Chicago Bulls versus Los Angeles Lakers, the Orlando Magic visiting the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Los Angeles Clippers taking on the Golden State Warriors.

Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images

There is, however, one thing that will be missing on Christmas Day. Championship rings, a long-time tradition for reigning NBA champs, will not be handed out on opening night since owner Mark Cuban has not had a final design for it. Due to the lockout, Cuban was not permitted to talk to his players for their inputs. Cuban is looking for insights from Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki, future Hall of Famer Jason Kidd and Jason Terry for the design of the rings. Due to this, only the raising of the championship banner would be held on opening night and the ring ceremony would be held on a separate game. There is still no tentative date for the ring ceremony.

The lockout ended when the player union and the owners had a handshake deal on November 25. On November 14, when the final official negotiations collapsed, the player union decided to decertify themselves. They also filed an antitrust lawsuit against the league.

Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images

In the tentative deal, the 2011-2012 season would be 66 games with the start of training camp and free agency on Dec. 9. Preseason games are slated to start on December 16. The season will end on April 26, with the playoffs starting two days later. The last possible Finals date would be June 26.

Holders of Dallas Mavericks tickets have long been waiting for this lockout to end since this will be the first time in the entire history of the team to be crowned champions. With almost two months worth of games already cancelled, the fans are very ecstatic to see their champs play.

Before they start the season, Dallas has to deal with its key free agents that were part of the championship core. First on the list is their defensive anchor Tyson Chandler. His great defensive plays throughout last season helped Dallas claim the title. Dallas is faced with an uphill battle in re-signing Chandler since he can command much higher salary from other teams. Dallas can bring him back but it comes with a cost. Other key free agents would not be re-signed and they will be at luxury territory. Key Dallas free agents include J.J. Barea, Caron Butler and DeShawn Stevenson.

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