"Not about to tarnish the work I put in" - Dwyane Wade rips into Mark Cuban's claim about finals being rigged

Dwyane Wade (left) and Mark Cuban
Dwyane Wade (left) and Mark Cuban (image credits: IMAGN)

It's been almost 20 years since the Miami Heat won its first championship. It came during the third season of Dwyane Wade, who averaged 34.7 points per game to beat the Dallas Mavericks.

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However, after all these years, former Mavericks principal owner Mark Cuban still hasn't gotten over it. He doubled down on his narrative of the 2006 NBA Finals being "stolen" from them.

“We hurt in 2006 after it was stolen from us, right?” Cuban said on Aug. 26, via DLLS Mavs. “And I’ll take that to my grave that it was stolen from us.”
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Wade clapped back at Cuban. While he acknowledged that he liked him as a person, the Heat legend dismissed the narrative of the series being rigged.

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“You’re not about to tarnish the work I put in as a young guy, to do something not a lot of young guys have done in this game and say it’s rigged,” Wade said on Wednesday, via the Wy Network.

Miami rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win four consecutive games. While that wasn't an easy feat, many still argue that the Heat received favorable whistles.

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Wade shot 25 free throws in Game 5 to secure the overtime win at home, and that raised some doubts at the time.

Mark Cuban compares LeBron James to Michael Jordan

Despite Mark Cuban now just a minority owner of the Mavericks, he's still a relevant figure in NBA circles.

Gilbert Arenas had him on his show on Sunday to pick his brain about multiple things, including the never-ending LeBron James-Michael Jordan debate. According to the business mogul, they can't be compared.

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"They're two completely different players, right? You can't even really compare them," Cuban said, via "The Arena." "If you have a good team, and you need a killer, you go MJ. If you have a team that's good and you want them to get better, and as a team go to the Finals, you go LeBron."

That has been the conclusion many analysts and fans have reached when they discuss the subject. However, this narrative, just like the "rigged" 2006 NBA Finals, will likely live on forever.

Miami Heat Nation! You can check out the latest Miami Heat Schedule and dive into the Heat Depth Chart for NBA Season 2024-25.

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Edited by Victor Ramon Galvez
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