For Miami Heat fans, the 2006 NBA Finals hold a very firm spot in their heart. It's the moment that everything changed for the franchise, and when Dwyane Wade made the official jump to superstardom. However, for most basketball fans out of South Florida, that Finals series is one that very well may have been "rigged."
It's a narrative that has grown momentum, even almost 20 years later, and it doesn't help that former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban doesn't let it die.
Nevertheless, Wade is out here making sure everyone knows what really happened during that series. And, no, it wasn't "rigged." Instead, it was the moment when everything began to pay off for a young star in the league.
Wade took to social media to tell Mark (Cuban) to stop that "BS."
D-Wade on Mark Cuban claiming 2006 Finals vs Mavs was rigged:
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) September 3, 2025
“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…Y’all got us, we got yall, stop that BS Mark.”pic.twitter.com/H24XH5TL9b
Dwyane Wade's career took off after that 2006 NBA Finals
I think it's pretty easy (and perhaps even lazy) to rip apart what the Heat managed to pull off in that series. But when looking back, it was clear that the Heat, and Wade specifically, completely changed gears during the fourth quarter of Game 3. And once Wade fueled that comeback, to avoid going down 3-0, it's almost as if a switch was flipped for Miami.
Led by Wade, who had one of the most dominating NBA Finals performances in NBA history, the Heat outplayed, outschemed, and outlasted the Mavs.
Continuing to harp on the "rigged" narrative does more harm than good. It is pretty crazy how out of the entire framework of the NBA over the last 50 years, it's that one singular NBA Finals series that gets the most scrutiny.
The fact that it was Wade's breakout series should make it all the more frustrating for Heat fans.
It'd be one thing if that Wade performance was just a one-and-done showing. But that series is what sparked a Hall of Fame career from arguably the second-best shooting guard in league history.
Can you imagine if someone tried to tear down one of Michael Jordan's legendary NBA Finals performances? It would be blasphemous for NBA fans. Why Wade? And why the Heat?
Did Wade get a few superstar calls? Sure, but what superstar doesn't?
The "rigged" narrative has run its course. It's time for Wade and that 2006 Heat team to get their deserved flowers.