The

1993–94 NBA season The 1993–94 NBA season was the 48th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season ended with the Houston Rockets defeating the New York Knicks 4 games to 3 in the 1994 NBA Finals, NBA Finals to win the franchise's first champ ...

was the 14th season for the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. After a dreadful season where they only won just eleven games, the Mavericks received the fourth overall pick in the

1993 NBA draft The 1993–94 NBA season, 1993 NBA draft took place on June 30, 1993, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The draft had some talented players at the top, but injuries and personal problems hurt many of them. Chris Webber, Pen ...

, and selected small forward

Jamal Mashburn Jamal Mashburn Sr. (born November 29, 1972) is an American entrepreneur and former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Monster Mash", Mashburn was a prolific scorer as a small forward in his 12 seasons in the National Basketball Assoc ...

from the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

, acquired rookie power forward

Popeye Jones Ronald Jerome "Popeye" Jones (born June 17, 1970) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). College career B ...

out of

Murray State University Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level an ...

from the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

, who drafted him in the second round of the

1992 NBA draft The 1992 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1992, at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. The draft is considered to be one of the deepest in NBA history. The top three picks (Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner) were conside ...

, and started the regular season with new head coach Quinn Buckner. Despite the addition of Mashburn, and second-year star Jim Jackson playing in his first full season, the Mavericks' misery continued as they lost 23 of their first 24 games, including a 20-game losing streak between November and December, which tied the infamous 1972–73 Philadelphia 76ers; the record was later on broken by the 1995–96 Vancouver Grizzlies and the 1997–98 Denver Nuggets, where both teams lost 23 consecutive games, which was then later broken by the 2010–11 Cleveland Cavaliers and the 2013–14 Philadelphia 76ers, who lost 26 consecutive games. The Mavericks then suffered a 16-game losing streak (which led to a 2–39 record), on their way to a miserable 3–40 record at the end of January. At mid-season, the team traded

Derek Harper Derek Ricardo Harper (born October 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. A second-team All-American at the University of Illinois, he was the 11th overall pick of the 1983 NBA draft and spent 16 seasons as a point guar ...

to the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

in exchange for Tony Campbell to replace Knicks point guard

Doc Rivers Glenn Anton "Doc" Rivers (born October 13, 1961) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). An NBA player for 14 seasons, he was an NB ...

, who played only 19 games due to a knee injury and missed the remainder of the season, and signed free agent Lorenzo Williams. The Mavericks held a 6–42 record at the All-Star break, and continued to struggle posting a 17-game losing streak between March and April, but would post a 5–8 record in April. They won their final two games finishing in last place in the Midwest Division with a miserable record of 13–69, narrowly missing out on back-to-back 70-loss seasons. Jackson averaged 19.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, while Mashburn averaged 19.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, and was named to the

NBA All-Rookie First Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for play ...

, and finished in third place in Rookie of the Year voting. In addition, second-year center Sean Rooks provided the team with 11.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, but only played just 47 games due to injury, while Doug Smith provided with 8.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, and

Fat Lever Lafayette "Fat" Lever (; born August 18, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association. He later served as the director of player development for the Sacramento Kings of the NBA as we ...

contributed 6.9 points and 2.0 steals per game. Meanwhile,

Tim Legler Timothy Eugene Legler (born December 26, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently an ESPN basketball analyst and co-host/analyst on SiriusXM NBA Radio. C ...

contributed 8.3 points per game off the bench, Jones averaged 5.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, and second-round draft pick Lucious Harris contributed 5.4 points per game also off the bench. Following the season, Buckner was fired as head coach, while Rooks was traded to the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

, Campbell signed as a free agent with the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

, Legler was released to free agency, and Lever and Randy White both retired.

Offseason

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

:z - clinched division title :y - clinched division title :x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Ragular season

Awards and records

NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for play ...

1st Team