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LeBron James and Dwyane Wade Once Mocked Dirk Nowitzki, and Ended Up Digging Their Own Grave

Published 06/07/2022, 1:37 PM EDT

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It is widely accepted that the best of LeBron James came during his time at the Miami Heat. Teaming up with the likes of Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, the team dominated the entire NBA. However, one of their biggest losses came up against the Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki.

During the 2011 NBA Finals, the Mavs led by Dirk defeated the Heat to win the NBA title. Interestingly enough, while the Heat dominated the series, LeBron and Wade decided to make fun of Dirk.

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Dirk was diagnosed with a flu mid-series which served as a major roadblock for the team. James and Wade decided to have some fun by mocking Dirk on live TV which did not end well for them.

LeBron James and Dwade mock NBA legend which does not end well

The Miami Heat boasted of having one of the most talented rosters of all time. Big things were expected from the trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. As they made their way through the playoffs, the Heat were heavy favorites to win the NBA title.

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They faced the Dallas Mavericks led by NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki. The series looked tight with the Heat leading 2-1 when the Mavs were dealt with a major blow. The team doctors diagnosed Dirk with having the flu. This made headlines everywhere with LeBron and Dwade taking a joke too far.

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The two were televised making fun of Dirk before Game 4 by making sneezing actions and laughing. However, Nowitzki let his performance do the talking. Despite not being in the best of shape, he dropped a performance for the ages.

Although his shooting looked off, Dirk performed when it mattered the most. With the score being 82-81 in favor of the Mavs and around 16 seconds left, Nowitzki pulled off a brilliant move to drop Udonis Haslem and bag a layup.

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He ended his ‘flu game’ with 21 points and 11 rebounds which gathered praise from all around the world. The Heat went on to lose the next two games in the series and the Mavs were crowned champions.

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Written by:

Abhinava Ghosh

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Abhinava is an NBA writer for EssentiallySports. He is currently pursuing his Bachelor's in Journalism and Mass Communication. Abhinava has been following NBA for the past 6 years and is a huge fan of the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry.
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Edited by:

Veer Badani