Dwyane Wade reacts to Mark Cuban’s claim about ‘stolen’ 2006 NBA Finals

Conspiracy theories surrounding the 2006 Finals usually center around the disparity in free throw attempts between the Heat and the Mavericks (with Wade in particular seen as having benefited from an especially friendly whistle). While a rewatching of the questionable fouls that Wade drew during that Finals series generally tend to show that the fouls were correctly called, the argument goes that Dallas supposedly didn’t receive the same kind of calls on the other end of the floor.

The truth is though that the Mavericks primarily had themselves to blame for losing that series. They stormed out to a 2-0 lead over the Heat and were up by 13 midway through the fourth quarter of Game 3. There was no reason that the series should have been close enough for the referees to significantly impact anything … yet that is exactly what Dallas allowed to happen through various miscues (including continuing to play a drop-coverage scheme on Wade throughout the Finals and an infamous timeout blunder by Josh Howard in the closing seconds of Game 5).

Wade and the Heat went on to win the Finals that year and also won two more championships several years later after LeBron James and Chris Bosh teamed up with Wade in Miami. But the Mavericks also got their revenge on the Heat within due time, beating them in the 2011 Finals to win an NBA championship of their own (with Cuban celebrating by doing some questionable things with the Larry O’Brien Trophy).