Dwyane Wade lays blame for Miami Heat losing 2011 Finals to Mavs, says two players were used wrong

Dwyane Wade says Miami Heat didn’t use Mike Bibby and Eddie House correctly

Dwyane Wade spoke on his podcast about the 2011 NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks. In particular, he talked about stars like Mike Bibby and Eddie House not being used correctly.

Wade subtly blamed Erik Spoelstra and the Heat coaching staff for not playing the right way and maximizing their players the right way, while Rick Carlisle relied on his vast experience to get the job done.

“We’re talking about a battle-tested team [Dallas], not just that year the previous years. You’re talking about a Heat team that just got together.

“And I know it’s going to be controversy on the big three, I don’t feel like we did a good job. And when I say we, I’m talking about the entire team of using and maximizing our role players the way that we should.

“We had some guys that could have helped us, but we didn’t utilize them the right way. We had some guys over there. We had Mike Bibby, we had Eddie House.

“We had some guys on that team that could have made big shots, who could have did things for us, but we didn’t maximize our bench like they maximized. They have Brian Cardinal come off the bench, taking charges. He changed the game.

“And a lot of it is on the big three. A lot of it is on our coaching staff as well, not on our role players, not at all, but we wasn’t prepared, and wasn’t ready. They were, and let’s not forget, Spo was not the Spoelstra he is now, but Rick Carlisle was Rick Carlisle.”

2011 Finals still the biggest blemish on Miami Heat’s legacy

Regardless of the reason for the massive upset, there is no denying that the Miami Heat’s loss in the 2011 NBA Finals is a massive stain on their legacy.

Given the talent they had, with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh – three superstars in the prime of their careers – they should have won with relative ease.

Dirk Nowitzki was basically toying with the Big Three, putting on the performance of a lifetime en route to his one and only NBA championship win.

While the Heat did eventually figure things out, going on to win back-to-back NBA championships in the years to come, the 2011 NBA Finals proved to be a massive let-down.