The Dallas Mavericks' biggest fans and supporters dressed in blue to raise some serious green for the team's charitable foundation at the 2024 Mavs Ball.
About 700 supporters of the Mavs Foundation gathered at the Hilton Anatole on March 22 for the ninth annual star-studded affair, which raises money to support nonprofit organizations serving children, women, and families in need in the community.
Upon arrival, local celebrities, VIPs, and current and past Mavericks players and their dates walked the blue carpet and stopped for interviews and photos. Among them were the entire 2023-24 Mavericks team, head coach Jason Kidd, general manager Nico Harrison, minority owner Mark Cuban, and CEO Cynt Marshall, as well as Mavericks legends Rolando Blackman, Devin Harris, Josh Howard, Salah Mejri, Charlie Villanueva, Sam Perkins, and Shawn Marion. Notably,Sivan Dumont, part of the Adelson/Dumont new ownership groupownership group, also was in attendance.
The glittery evening started with a VIP cocktail reception, blue carpet arrival, arena-style player instructions, and multicourse seated dinner. Mentalist Oz Pearlman entertained the crowd with mind-bending tricks and stunts, including revealing the serial number of a $100 bill belonging to Mavs forward Markieff Morris and revealing the drink that Mavs forward Maxi Kleber was thinking of. (Pearlman opened a can of soda and poured out chocolate milk, Kleber's answer.)
But the live auctions were what got the crowd going most. Popular items included the chance to be a coach or general manager for a day, and enjoying a dining experience with Mavs' team chef Lex Grant.
In one of the biggest highlights of the night, Mavs star Kyrie Irving and Cuban engaged in a bidding war for a five-day trip to Slovenia, Luka Dončić's home country, which included practices and a game with the entire Slovenian national team. Both Irving and Cuban won trips with a bid of $77,000.
Dončić then returned the kindness by matching another bidder’s $33,000 for a personal skills camp with Irving.
In all, $1.8 million was raised for the Mavs Foundation. To celebrate, Emerald City Band got the crowd on its feet on the dance floor.
In its 27 years, the Mavs Foundation has provided grant funding totaling more than $10 million to nonprofit organizations serving women, children and families in need. The foundation also has built 56 safe Learn & Play spaces throughout the North Texas community, including 31 basketball courts and 25 Reading & Learning Centers.
