Who Belongs Next to Dirk Nowitzki on the Dallas Mavericks' Mount Rushmore?

The Dallas Mavericks are one of the younger teams in the NBA, having joined the league as an expansion franchise in 1980. The name, inspired by a fan mail-in contest that built off the 1960s TV western "Maverick," means a fiercely independent person. That certainly embodies the nature of this franchise.

Since 1980, the Mavs have been quite competitive, making the playoffs each year from 1983 to 1988, in 1990, and then in 15 of 16 years to open the millennium (only missing the playoffs in 2012-2013 during that stretch).

While their Mount Rushmore isn't as loaded as, say, the Lakers or Celtics (whose is?), Dallas' consistent success has bred plenty of iconic players. Here is our attempt to rank the four most notable ones in Mavericks history.

Honorable Mentions

• Steve Nash (1999-2004)
• Shawn Marion (2009-2014)
• Jason Kidd (1994-1997; 2007-2012; head coach from 2021-26)
• Derek Harper (1983-1993; 1996-97)
• Michael Finley (1996-2005)
• Mark Aguirre (1981-1989)

4. Rolando Blackman (1981-1992)

Blackman was the first true star in Dallas, and the only thing missing from his resume was an NBA championship. Blackman led the Mavericks on their first few deep playoff runs as a franchise.

He took the team to the cusp of the mountaintop in 1988, pushing the Lakers to a grueling seven games before an eventual loss at the hands of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Blackman, the first Panamanian NBA player to have his jersey retired, held the franchise points record for 18 years until Dirk Nowitzki broke it in 2008. To this day, his career average of 19.2 points per game, and his legacy as a player who never fouled out of a game, rightfully earn him a spot on this list.

3. Jason Terry (2004-2012)

Terry was the vital co-star for Dallas next to Nowitzki on the Mavericks teams that lived inside the playoffs. The Mavericks made the playoffs in each of Terry's eight years with the team, and while the team fell short against the Heat in 2006, Terry still contributed 18.9 points and 1.2 steals per game during the Mavericks' first ever run to the championship.

Terry and Nowitzki made it up to the mountaintop and past Dwyane Wade and the Heat in 2011, and Terry was critical in the NBA Finals, scoring 21 and then 27 points in Games 5 and 6 to overcome consecutive strong performances by the Heat's "Big 3" of Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh.

Terry's signature moment was his clutch three-pointer over LeBron to put Game 5 away and put the Mavericks up 3-2 in the series. He was the soul of the Mavericks during his time with the team, and "The Jet" was crazy enough to get the Larry O'Brien Trophy tattooed on him before the 2011 playoffs even began. A true, all-time legend for Dallas.

2. Luka Doncic (2018-2025)

While Doncic's time in Dallas ended abruptly, shockingly, and unfittingly after a trade in February 2025, his individual resume is more than enough to consider him one of the two most prominent faces in franchise history.

From the whirlwind draft-day trade that sent Doncic to the Mavericks instead of the Hawks, who landed Trae Young instead, to the midnight trade that sent Anthony Davis to the Mavericks and Doncic to the Lakers, Luka's career in Dallas was a frenzy.

The Slovenian put up unprecedented numbers for someone so early in his career, racking up consecutive All-NBA First Team honors and led the team to a Western Conference Finals appearance in 2021 and NBA Finals berth in 2024.

Doncic holds multiple single-season scoring records and the all-time franchise record for triple-doubles, and the only asterisk is the question of what could have been had Doncic's later years in Dallas not turned turbulent.

1. Dirk Nowitzki (1998-2019)

Not only is Nowitzki the best player in Mavericks history, but he is also one of the best bigs in NBA history. His career accolades speak for themselves: seventh in all-time points with 31,560, past the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Moses Malone, and Hakeem Olajuwon.

Nowitzki influenced a generation of big men with his one-legged, step-back fadeaway that was simply unguardable, and current stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, and Victor Wembanyamacredit Nowitzki for not only shaping the possibilities of players of his ilk but also changing the way international talent is evaluated.

Nowitzki played all 21 years of his sterling career in Dallas, winning the 2011 NBA Finals and triumphing over the far-more star-studded, defending champion Lakers, Thunder, and Heat, winning Finals MVP in the process.

The German native was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2023 after one of the most heralded careers in NBA history, and it's hard to foresee any player delivering a similar level of sustained greatness to Dallas over decades as Nowitzki did.

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This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 2:04 PM.