Deprived of Predicted NBA Ring, HoF Recounts Dwyane Wade’s Rise to Stardom Despite Sour Defeat

Published 11/30/2023, 3:38 PM EST

Many believe that Dwyane Wade was in his prime during the early 2010s. He won his two NBA championships for the Miami Heat alongside LeBron James, but people forget how good Dwyane Wade was in the 2006 NBA season.

Wade is a three-time NBA champion, who single-handedly dominated the intimidating Dallas Mavericks team in the 2006 NBA Finals. An NBA Hall of Famer and a Mavericks legend talks about the 2006 NBA Finals loss and Dwayne Wade’s rise to stardom.

Dirk Nowitzki on his NBA Finals Defeat

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In 2006, the Dallas Mavericks faced off against the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. Dirk Nowitzki was dominating the league at the time averaging 24.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists! Dwyane Wade, on the other hand, was having his breakout season as he led his team to the NBA Finals. He averaged 27.4 points, 7.5 assists, and 3.7 rebounds in that season and he did not succumb to the pressure in the finals. The Miami Heat made an iconic comeback from losing the series 2-0 to dominantly winning the NBA Finals (4-2). In a recent podcast episode of “SHOWTIME Basketball”, Dirk Nowitzki opens up about the devastating finals loss. He says, “There were a couple of low points in my career and that was definitely one of them. We left here 2-0, and the Dallas Morning Newspaper already had the ‘parade route’ already in the paper…”

The Dallas legend further says, “But uh…we were kind of going down there, things were going well, we think we are going to win this and then…we were still playing well in game 3, we were still up with like a couple of minutes to go and you know, we ended up losing that game and things kind of just fell apart.”

Dirk Nowitzki then claims that the 2006 NBA Finals series was Dwyane Wade’s ‘coming out’ party. Nowitzki mentions, “I mean he was unguardable.” The co-hosts of the podcast then talk about Dirk Nowitzki’s MVP year (2007) which forever cemented his NBA legacy.

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Dirk Nowitzki’s MVP Year

After coming off a devastating NBA Finals in 2006, Dirk Nowitzki (who was in his prime then) was more determined than ever to become the NBA champions in 2007. He mentions in the same podcast episode, “So, in ’06 I wasn’t that frustrated. But I knew I was in my prime so I was like ‘Next year we are coming in, same team, we are going to roll.” The Dallas Mavericks went on to win 68 games that season and were ranked 1st in the Western Conference in the regular season. This was a huge statement by the Mavericks to the rest of the NBA teams heading to the playoffs.

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However, Dirk Nowitzki’s dream of winning an NBA championship came crashing down when they faced the unassuming Golden State Warriors in the 1st round of the NBA playoffs. In a shocking upset, the Dallas Mavericks lost to the Golden State Warriors (4-2). Dirk Nowitzki mentions in the podcast, “It was tough. I couldn’t stop the bleeding. I didn’t shoot well. That was probably my worst playoff series… that was tough because I took ’07 almost harder than ’06.”

Dirk Nowitzki averaged 23.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the 2007 season and was the ‘difference maker’ for his team. However, he mentions that he was embarrassed during his MVP award ceremony and is always reminded of the humiliating playoff loss against GSW whenever he looks at his 2007 MVP trophy at home.

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What are your thoughts on Dirk Nowitzki’s perspective on his 2006 NBA Finals experience and his MVP year? Let us know in the comments below!

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Written by:

I come from a family of tennis lovers. However, I fell in love with the game of basketball at the age of 9 when my Physical Education teacher made my entire class play a game of basketball. Since then, I have been an ardent basketball fan who was obsessed with Kobe Bryant.

Edited by:

Caroline Joseph

Deprived of Predicted NBA Ring, HoF Recounts Dwyane Wade’s Rise to Stardom Despite Sour Defeat

Dirk Nowitzki on his NBA Finals Defeat

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Dirk Nowitzki’s MVP Year