Dereck Lively II of the Dallas Mavericks tossed the question back at the reporter when the rookie center was asked if he knew why so many fans shouted “Stars” during the national anthem at his home games.
“You tell me why,” Lively said, prompting the explanation that supporters of Dallas’ NBA team were offering a shoutout to fans of the NHL’s Stars, who for years have yelled their team’s nickname both times it comes up during “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“I definitely had a sneaking suspicion, but I didn’t want to guess,” the 20-year-old from Duke said. “So that’s what I thought it was.”
The Mavericks and Stars reached the Western Conference finals in their respective leagues together this spring for the first time in the 31 years since the NHL franchise moved south from Minnesota.
Lively and co-stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have the Mavs in the NBA Finals for the first time in 13 years, with Game 1 in Boston next week. The Stars will play at least six games against Edmonton for a spot in the Stanley Cup Final, which was last played in Dallas in 2000 when the clubs shared the since-demolished Reunion Arena.
It’s making for a busy spring for American Airlines Center workers who can convert the floor from ice to hardwood — or vice versa — in a matter of hours at the 23-year-old arena. They do that constantly for six months during the regular season, occasionally for a day-night doubleheader with less than five hours to spare between games.
By the time these NBA and NHL playoffs are over, the AAC, as the locals call it, will have hosted about 25 postseason games, after each team played 41 games there in regular seasons that started almost eight months ago.
It’s just the sixth time that NBA and NHL teams sharing an arena have reached the conference finals together, and the first since the Nets and Devils in New Jersey in 2003.
“There’s gonna be a lot of things sold in this stadium,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said, chuckling at himself while seeming to have the word “alcohol” running around in his brain. “A lot of water’s going to be sold, so it’s going to be an incredible time here in Dallas. It’s going to be busy downtown.”
The Texas Rangers won their first World Series last fall, an interesting twist considering they were a strike away from winning the title twice in 2011 when the Mavs were reigning NBA champs.
That 2011 championship is the only one for the Mavericks so far. The Stars won their lone Stanley Cup in 1999. Now the clubs are closer than ever to a Dallas double.
“It’s awesome,” Stars captain Jamie Benn said. “I think both franchises probably got some motivation from the Rangers as well. We’re happy to watch the Mavs go on and do so well. And we’re supporting them as much as they’re supporting us.”
Even a couple of out-of-town football stars are getting into it.
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce showed up in a suite with former Stars goalie Marty Turco and plenty of others for a 3-1 victory over Edmonton in Game 2.
That footage prompted fellow three-time Super Bowl winner and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a Texas native, to post on X imploring his favorite receiver to “get out of my arena!!” Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, attend a fair share of Mavs games.
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