250,000 fans came for the Mavericks victory celebration

DALLAS — As promised, 2011 NBA champions Dallas Mavericks paraded through Dallas and the party continued afterwards to celebrate their victory, capping a championship run filled with dramas and down the wire finishes.

Thirty one years in the making, this was also a victory for the city of Dallas that 5 years ago had announced preparations for a victory parade when the Mavericks took an early 2-0 lead in the 2006 NBA Finals against the same franchise they have just vanquished, the Miami Heat. Back then, all plans backfired when the Heat won 4 consecutive games to win the championship, claiming that the widely announced Dallas victory parade preparations motivated them to play better against the Mavs.

The 2006 championship series was tainted by Mavs' allegations of favoritism and deliberate bad calls by referees that Dwayne Wade and company took advantage of. The Heat denied this and Wade fired back that the Mavs lost because Dirk Nowitzki was not strong enough as a leader.

Dirk had related that on the night they lost the championship, he stayed at the Heat's home arena until 5 in the morning together with some Mavs support cast to drown their sadness.

Mavs's stars Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry, the only remaining survivors of the team's 2006 debacle admitted to having to live through the heart breaking loss every night for the next 5 years. Their agonies ended Tuesday night when they vanquished the Miami Heat, the cause of all their sorrows, in not so flattering fashion.

After Game 6 that closed out the finals, Terry said "Now we got our vindicaton." Said Mavs' coach Rick Carlisle "They were not going to be denied. Dirk and Jet (Terry) had to live for five years with what happened in 2006 and as of tonight, those demons are officially destroyed."

Five years ago, the city of Dallas was eager to spend for the Mav's parade and party for a victory that never came. Ironically, this time the city is on budget crunch and does not have the money to celebrate a victory that took a long time coming. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban promised to foot the bill for the victory celebration.

Fans filled the streets and sidewalks along the mile-long route between the convention center and the American Airlines Arena.

Franchise founder Donald Carter and his wife, Linda, for whom he started the club as gift, were in a white convertible that was leading the parade.

During the awarding ceremonies right after Game 6, the Carter couple at the request of current Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had received the championship trophy in behalf of the triumphant Mavs.