Super Fan- living and dying with the Dallas Mavericks
He is the man with the pink clappers. He is the man with the outlandish leather jackets. He is the man with the unique hats. He is the man who has worn chaps to various Dallas Mavericks games. He is a committed, loyal, and overly enthusiastic Mavericks fan. He is Don Knobler, and he epitomizes what a sports fan should be.
More commonly referred to as Super Fan, Knobler is a devoted Mavericks fan, which owns courtside season tickets, and travels with the team for a few games each season.
He went to his first game when the Mavericks were still playing at Reunion Arena and has been an avid fan ever since.
“Back in 1997, Don Carter invited me to a game, and I sat on the front row and I thought, ‘Wow, this is really, really neat!’” Knobler said.
A tradition was born that night, when a couple fans commented on his matchless outfit.
“I wore some neat Versace outfit that night and I remember when the game was over several people came over and said, ‘Man, that is such a neat outfit!” Knobler said. “I thought, ‘Well I have lots of other neat outfits,’ so I started wearing them, too.”
Not only does he attend every game in an outfit that’s sure to capture everyone’s attention, but he makes sure to change it up.
“I never wear the same outfit twice in a season,” Knobler said. “But I wear the coat more than once.”
This year, Knobler has often been seen sporting a Mavericks championship jacket that costs $5,500.
“This is such a significant coat,” Knobler said. “I had it made in L.A. by Jeff Hamilton, who makes the leather coats for all of NASCAR, for all the NBA , the NFL, for everyone.”
He has most of his clothing custom designed to make sure its original.
“Most of my clothes I get in Las Vegas and I do get some at Neiman Marcus and in places around Dallas but mostly in Las Vegas because you get things that are different there,” Knobler said.
Because he sits so close to the action, Knobler has been able to develop relationships with players and referees. These relationships made the championship run last season even more gratifying, because he knew the players deserved it.
“[Winning the championship] was like a dream come true,” Knobler said. “We had been fighting so long. So many people had been played so hard. So many coaches put everything they had into it, and then everything culminated last season and it couldn’t have been better.”
A fan during the 2006 championship run where the Mavericks fell to the Miami Heat after blowing a 2-0 series lead in the Finals, revenge was undoubtedly one of Knobler’s emotions as the Mavs avenged their previous loss.
“In my humble opinion, we should have beaten the Heat in ’06,” Knobler said.
Even though the memory has been forever tainted by the collapse that shocked the franchise, Knobler’s favorite game was played during the first Finals run.
“My favorite [game] had to be the last game we played here in ‘06 when we took on the Miami Heat in the finals and I thought, ‘Hallelujah this is the beginning of the greatest victory and the most wonderful finals ever,’” Knobler said. “Then we went to Miami and things just changed.”
Cognizant that the Mavericks are not favored to repeat this year, Knobler still has faith that his team will have success in this shortened season.
“I think we will definitely make it to the playoffs, and I think we will go fairly deep, and my prayer is that we will go all the way to the finals and win one more time and repeat,” he said.
However, Knobler feels as if the Mavericks have the right players and game plan for them to win the title as the underdogs once again.
“It’s a whole team effort,” Knobler said. “It can’t be one guy and I just think the world of Matrix – Shawn Marion – and they are all such great players with such diverse talents and when you put them all together and homogenize it, you’ve got a winning team. A winning Dallas Mavericks team.”