The Miami Heat have had a rough season in 2025-26, currently sitting at 29-27 after a recent road win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Heat fans would be forgiven for reminiscing on the team's championship years, which began in 2006 when young superstar Dwyane Wade led the team to an NBA Finals victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
That series win did not come without controversy, as Wade appeared to be the beneficiary of several puzzling calls at several points in the matchup, which the Heat ultimately wound up winning in six games.
However, now Wade himself is setting the record straight on his version of how things went down 20 years ago against Dallas.
“I averaged 35 in the finals!!! Let me say that again. I averaged 35 in the finals! I averaged 40 in four games but I averaged 35 in the finals… you got some Dallas fans out there like, ‘Yea, but you averaged 20 free throws!’ Yeah, I got to the line too… the greats get to the line,” said Wade, per Wy Network by Dwyane Wade on X, formerly Twitter.
Indeed, a large part of being a great scorer in the NBA is finding ways to get to the line consistently, a trend that has continued today, with MVP-level players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers being among the league leaders in free throw attempts, and drawing similar criticism from fans in the process.
Wade certainly knew how to get to the line back in his day, going on to win two more championships with the Heat after LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined the mix in 2010.
The Heat made it back to the Finals in both 2020 and 2023, but have fallen off significantly since then, with many fans clamoring for a rebuild.
For the time being, however, all Miami fans can do is look back at the glory days.
