Dec 25, 2011; Dallas, TX, USA; Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade (3) takes a break from facing the Dallas Mavericks during their game at the American Airlines Center. The Heat defeated the Mavericks 105-94. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Dwyane Wade's belief on what could've changed 2011 NBA Finals vs. Mavericks is wrong

Originally posted on Dallas Mavericks on SI
By Austin Veazey | Last updated Sep 5, 2025 9:30 AM ET

Dwyane Wade and Mark Cuban have taken shots at each other this week, talking about the 2006 NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat. Cuban swears they were rigged, and Wade doesn't want his work to be discredited.

This has also brought up a conversation about the 2011 NBA Finals, where Dirk Nowitzki finally avenged his loss, got his championship, and the Heat's Big Three, specifically LeBron James, came up short. Wade talked about that series on the Wy Network, and two players who could've made a bigger difference if given a chance.

“We’re talking about a battle-tested team [Dallas], not just that year, the previous years," Wade started. "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 [Erik] Spoelstra he is now, but Rick Carlisle was Rick Carlisle.”

The Mavericks Were Not "Battle-Tested" Before The 2011 NBA Finals

Those Mavericks were a veteran team, but calling them "battle-tested" may be pushing it. Tyson Chandler had just been acquired that season, Shawn Marion came in the season before, and Caron Butler had torn his ACL midway through the season. The team didn't have a lot of postseason experience together as a team.

That series comes down to LeBron James only averaging 17.8 PPG in that series. He simply wasn't good enough, and the team around Nowitzki stepped up as he battled illness and a torn ligament in his finger, but still played well overall. Eddie House and Mike Bibby weren't going to make that big a difference.

This article first appeared on Dallas Mavericks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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