Photos: World champion Mavericks land at Dallas airport

The first thing we saw when the plane door opened was that shiny gold trophy.

Photo by Linda McKinney

Champions!

DALLAS — Our hometown NBA champions returned to Dallas at about 11:30 a.m. Monday, barely 12 hours after the Dallas Mavericks won Game 6 against the Miami Heat and took their first-ever title.

Bars and restaurants in Dallas erupted with elated fans on Sunday night, and some of those fans headed straight to Love Field at 2 a.m. When our photographer got to the scene Monday morning, several thousand fans awaited the jet carrying JET, Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Mark Cuban, and the rest of the proud Dallas Mavericks team.

Photo by Linda McKinney

This woman said she has every Mavs player's autograph on her trophy except Dirk's. She vowed to get it on Monday.

But the wait was long: At least three women fainted, possibly from a combination of heat exhaustion and excitement. The public stood behind a metal fence guarded every 20 feet or so by a police officer. In all, at least three SWAT helicopters and between 200 and 300 officers were on duty.

When the plane finally landed, an elated Cuban burst out of the airplane holding the trophy. Not far behind was Nowitzki, his gold trophy glistening in the hot Texas sun.

And finally, we can say: The boys are back in town! We'll let you know when the parade is scheduled.