2006 NBA Finals MVP (Dwyane Wade)

Lore & Background

The Mavericks were heavy favorites to win the championship over the Heat. Despite these odds, the Heat pulled off the upset, becoming the third team—after the 1969 Celtics, the 1977 Trail Blazers and later the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2021 Milwaukee Bucks—to win a championship after trailing 0–2 in the series. Dwyane Wade of the Heat was named Most Valuable Player of the series. This was the only Finals of the 2000s not to involve the Los Angeles Lakers or the San Antonio Spurs, and the first since 1995 not to feature either Phil Jackson or Gregg Popovich as head coach.

Reader's Guide

The Heat became the second team since 1985 to sweep the middle three games at home, the 2004 Detroit Pistons being the first. In 1985 the NBA switched the Finals to the 2-3-2 format, which was changed back to the 2-2-1-1-1 format for the 2014 NBA Finals. Dwyane Wade averaged 34.7 points per game in the series and was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player.

Did You Know?

• Shaquille O'Neal and Gary Payton became the 6th and 7th players to play in the NBA Finals for three different teams.
• O'Neal and Alonzo Mourning achieved the rare feat of being former first-round picks from the same year (1992) to win a championship with the same team.
• Jerry Stackhouse was the final NBA player to be suspended in the NBA Finals until Draymond Green in the 2016 NBA Finals.
• This was the first Finals where the same company (American Airlines) owned the naming rights to both home arenas.