The 2011 championship by the Dallas Mavericks is one of the greatest playoff runs of all time. On their way to the title, they had to go through LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy on the Portland Trail Blazers, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol on the Los Angeles Lakers, a young Oklahoma City Thunder team with Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook, and the newly formed Big 3 on the Miami Heat with LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade. And if you ask Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki, they got lucky to play the Heat when they did.

Nowitzki recently appeared on the “Thanalysis” podcast, hosted by Thanasis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, and talked about the luck that went into the 2011 title. “I always say we got a little lucky. We saw them in year one where they had just gotten together. They were not quite sure yet… Is LeBron taking over? Is Wade taking over? Is Bosh taking the big shots?… I think they were working around some of the how to fill those roles and after that they start winning. They won two championships, they went to the Finals four times in a row. We were a little fortunate that we caught ‘em a little on the early side before they really figured it all out.”

There is a little truth in Nowitzki’s words, as the 2010-11 Heat had some issues figuring out their roles. At the same time, the Mavericks did a great job flummoxing the Heat, specifically LeBron James, on defense. Mavs’ then-head coach Rick Carlisle pulled a brilliant stunt by having 5’10” J.J. Barea guard James later in the series, and The King had no idea how to attack the mismatch.

If you were to ask James, this was the worst series of his career and is one of the few stains he has on a remarkable resume. He averaged just 17.8 PPG in the 2011 NBA Finals, the only time he has ever been held below 20 PPG in a playoff series. But without this series, he may not go on to win four championships with how much this series forced him to grow as a player.

Miami would win the two championships after 2011 as the team figured out how to play together, but the 2011 Mavs are etched in history and it cemented an incredible career for Nowitzki, changing a lot of the narratives surrounding him.