It’s been a decade, but there’s still a lot of buzz about the 2006 NBA Finals being “rigged” for the Miami Heat to win. The free throw disparity is too much for many to overlook.
Dallas was up 2-0 in the series, when Dwyane Wade suddenly began going to the line quite often. Wade went to the line 18 times in Game 3, and set a record for most free throws made in a playoff game with 21 in Game 5.
All in all, Wade had 97 attempts during the series, which does seem a bit ridiculous, even given his aggressive, attack-minded playing style.
Wade has never spoken about it publicly, at least not in detail, until now. He took to Instagram on Monday and posted this photo:
And here’s the caption that accompanied it:
“There’s alot of coverage on the 2006 NBA Finals right now…One because it was the most controversial finals to date and today makes exactly 10 years to the date we won our first ever title as an organization and me as a player. It was one of the greatest moments in my life and probably one of the worst for the Dallas Mavericks. That’s sports… we’ve all had our moments to feel both ways. Now what I’m reading about the series is unfair to me as a basketball player. Did I get some calls that I could have played through YES. We all do…but was I attacking every time I touch the ball…YES. This picture is an example of a play in game 5 that everyone said I didn’t get fouled on. Listen most athlete have never committed a foul but D Harris my guy…this is a foul haa. All in all we did find a way to beat a team that was a much better team then us that season…but they got their payback in 2011 as a franchise so in my mind it’s a wash..but iam proud to take a look back at these moments and say I had a hand in us winning our first ever championship. #2006”
So there you have it. We’ll likely ever know if there was some funny business going on behind the scenes, but it’s not crazy to say that the officials gave Wade a few extra calls here and there in hopes of getting a six or seven-game series.
