Jason Kidd says what LeBron James did in 2011 Finals inspired Dallas Mavericks victory, ‘everybody started to believe’

Jason Kidd says LeBron James and Dwayne Wade’s Game 2 ‘showboating’ led to a momentum-swinging comeback

With seven minutes remaining in Game 2, James and the Heat had control of the series and were on track to claim the championship at the first time of asking. They had won Game 1 and were up 15 midway through the fourth.

Dallas called a timeout, and instead of simply heading to the bench, James and Wade did something to light a fire in the Mavericks. They did their pre-game shadow boxing routine in celebration. With time left on the clock, Kidd and the Mavs didn’t take that lightly.

Kidd, speaking on Bryson DeChambeau’s YouTube channel, explained, “The one thing that happened in that game… Game 2, we’re down 15, and the scene is set where LeBron and D Wade are shadow boxing against each other, and it kind of p****d us off.

“We go out of that timeout and we say, ‘We aren’t going to lose to these guys doing this shadow boxing.’ They were showboating a little bit. We came out, went on a run and won Game 2. That’s when everybody started to believe we could win the championship.”

Dallas battled back and tied the game at 93. With seconds on the clock, Kidd fed the ball to Nowitzki, who took Chris Bosh off the dribble and hit the winning layup. The Mavericks went on to win the series in six games for their first-ever NBA championship.

It’s an all-time case of celebrating too soon from the now four-time champion, James.

Jason Kidd ‘didn’t want to stop playing’ after winning 2011 Finals

After beating James and Wade in the 2011 NBA Finals, Kidd admitted that as a first-time champion, he didn’t know how to react. He’d just pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in NBA history, but wanted the series to continue.

He said the Mavericks were playing so well that the team wanted to continue playing. He said, “It was incredible when we beat them, because they were the favourites. We didn’t know how to celebrate, because no one had won the championship.

“Here’s the thing about that game six in Miami. When we won, we didn’t know how to celebrate, and we didn’t want to stop playing. When you’re playing good, we wanted to keep playing.”

Coached by Rick Carlisle, who almost pulled off a Finals upset with the Indiana Pacers last season, the Mavs were a closely knit group led by a legend in Nowitzki.

Nowitzki carried himself with quiet confidence. That contrasted the Heat’s brashness, with their pre-game rituals, mid-game celebrations and occasional arrogance. Take James’ famous “not one, not two…” speech from his introduction to Heat fans for an example of that.

That Miami arrogance eventually inspired their 2011 downfall.