Shaq explicitly says that Mavs should have won the 2006 NBA Title

[D2Procon]

http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/66519/20100511/shaq_surprise_heat_won_2006_title_because_of_const ant_partying/

Shaq Surprise Heat Won 2006 Title Because Of Constant Partying

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Shaquille O'Neal talks about his time in Miami.

"I still don't know how we won that championship," said O'Neal.

That quote concluded with an expletive about how the constant that season was partying "every night in Miami."

[HarlemHeat37]

So the Mavs got the backdoor sweep from a bunch of guys that were hungover every night?..

[Ghazi]

http://www.phillyref.com/basketball/nbarefs/ism_bennett_salvatore.jpg

[Roddy Beaubois]

same thing has been said about members of the Mavs iirc

[mavsfan1000]

I thought he was going to admit the refs rigged the series. lol

[lurker]

So the Mavs got the backdoor sweep from a bunch of guys that were hungover every night?..
Avery had to change hotels during the series because some (Josh Howard in particular) were out enjoying Miami as well.

[JamStone]

It was because they partied every night in Miami. By the time the playoffs came, the Heat players were used to playing drunk and hungover, while Bong Howard and Drunk Diggler were not used to playing after needling heroine and smashing a Cuban punani all night before each game.

If I had to choose the lesser of two evils, I'd rather be in a car with a chronic drunk driver who's never been caught or in an accident than a 19 year old kid who's driving drunk for the very first time.

[baseline bum]

Now it all makes sense.

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/3111/shaq.png

[jacobdrj]

It was because they partied every night in Miami. By the time the playoffs came, the Heat players were used to playing drunk and hungover, while Bong Howard and Drunk Diggler were not used to playing after needling heroine and smashing a Cuban punani all night before each game.

If I had to choose the lesser of two evils, I'd rather be in a car with a chronic drunk driver who's never been caught or in an accident than a 19 year old kid who's driving drunk for the very first time.

Wow, what an image...

[Ghazi]

Mavs choked it away. Plain and simple. The Heat were a far inferior team that should have been swept by Dallas. The Mavs were up 13 with five minutes to play in Game 3, realized how close they were to actually winning a title, and choked.

Choked 1 game before getting fucked by the refs in Game 5/6. I agree.

[Ghazi]

But the refs did make a difference.

It should've been a case of a team choking and winning at the same time. Like Alabama v Texas, like KG in the '08 Finals, like LSU in '07.

I don't think '06 has much impact on what's going on today with the Mavs. The league is much different/tougher (Kobe/Lebron/Garnett were on irrelevant teams back then, stars like Durant/Howard/Roy/Williams hadn't emerged, Amare was hurt). We only have 3 members remaining from that team. Terry's suck can be attributed to age, Dampier's suck can be attributed to him being Damp, and Dirk's been pretty good in the last 5 playoff series except for Golden State. These are just my humble points of view.

[mavsfan1000]

Game 4 never should have been a blowout. Games 5 and 6 never should have been close enough for the refs to make a difference.

Do you really understand how much better Dallas was? imho, the talent disparity would be like the Lakers playing the Clippers in a 7 game series. No contest.

It absolutely should have been a sweep for the Mavs. They beat Miami's ass the first two games, did it for 90% of Game 3, and then choked a fat one the rest of the series after that.

Ghazi, read this article. Unfortunately it tells the sad story of where history changed for the Mavericks and the entire organization went into a tailspin.

http://www.dallasobserver.com/2009-03-05/news/the-dallas-mavericks-go-for-broke-but-where-is-it-getting-them
The playoff refs like Wade more than Dirk. And the Heat had some talent. Posey, Mourning, Shaq, Wade, Payton, and Haslem. It was the Heat's defense that totally changed the series along with Wade's offense. Mourning was a beast.

[Phallusy]

Misleading title is misleading