The 2006 NBA Finals featured a showdown between two teams aiming to make history by winning their first-ever NBA title. The Miami Heat came out on top, but former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban recently suggested that this win was determined by external forces. To counter this, Heat legend and three-time champion Dwyane Wade fired back at Cuban.
While responding to Cuban’s comments on a recent episode of the “Wy Network” podcast, Wade said:
“2006 was rigged was what Mark Cuban said… I love Mark Cuban from afar, everything that he has accomplished and everything he’s done. But Mark, stop saying that. Mark, we beat y’all.”
The Heat legend recalled the aspect of foul calls being a key point of contention. While he argued that Mavs star Dirk Nowitzki was also the beneficiary of some favorable calls, Wade didn’t suggest that the officials were going out of their way to help Dallas win.
Wade then pointed to his own experience by adding, “You had a young guy who was becoming a star in the NBA. Did I get a few whistles? Yes. But was I the only one attacking the basket every play? Probably.”
“You’re not about to tarnish the work I put in as a young guy, to do something not a lot of young guys have done in this game and say it’s rigged,” he concluded. “Mark, stop that. Y’all got us. We got y’all. It’s all love.”
Wade’s response to Cuban certainly is a classy one. While taking a balanced stance, he acknowledged that although he received a favorable whistle, there were greater elements in Miami’s overall performance that eventually delivered the title to them.
The Heat star was on the brink of becoming a superstar during the 2006 Finals. In just his third year as a professional, Wade had established himself as one of the brightest young stars in the league.
Playing next to a legendary big man in Shaquille O’Neal, Wade and the Heat were a superpower in the Eastern Conference that season, finishing second in the East with a 52-30 record.
In the regular season, the Heat guard had averaged an impressive 27.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and 1.9 steals per game, finishing sixth in MVP voting and even earning All-NBA honors.
His brilliance in the regular season poured over into the playoffs, where Wade and O’Neal dominated against teams in the East, steamrolling their way to the Finals.
In the Finals matchup against the Mavericks, Wade led the offensive charge for the Heat, emerging as the scoring leader for the series. His crowning moment came in Game 3, when the guard put up 42 points and 13 rebounds to help Miami notch its first win.
After facing a 0-2 deficit, the Heat went on to go undefeated through the rest of the series, eventually emerging victorious in six games. Wade’s averages of 34.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.7 steals per game were also held in high regard, as he was deservingly named the Finals MVP.
The rivalry between the Heat and the Mavericks rekindled in the 2011 Finals, when Nowitzki and the Mavericks finally got their revenge with a 4-2 win. While Cuban remains convinced about his team’s claim on the 2006 title, Wade lets the results speak for themselves.
