With the NBA offseason in full swing and the dust just now settling on the 2025 NBA Championship, people are slowly starting to compare Shai Gilgeious-Alexander’s Finals run to other all-time great runs from guards. Austin Rivers, who played a season with Shai, gave him his props but claimed that despite how good the Canadian was, no guard would ever come close to matching Dwyane Wade’s 2006 Finals run.
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Rivers, who is slowly but surely building a reputation for his candid (if not unfiltered) opinions, said: “I think Dwyane Wade’s 06′ finals run is one of the most dominating finals runs in the history of the NBA.”
D-Wade’s 2006 Finals run being one of the most dominating in league history is highly debatable. But Dwyane Wade was indeed something special. The Chi-Town native dug deep and dragged the Miami Heat to the chip, averaging 34.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in six games.
The Heat were in trouble early, getting outclassed in the first two games. They lost 90-80 in Game 1 and then suffered a 99-85 defeat in Game 2. Wade led their fight back with four straight wins to clinch the 2006 NBA Championship and stunned the Dallas Mavericks.
Shaquille O’Neal, in his 14th season and past his physical peak, had a modest showing. He posted 20.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks during the regular season. But he averaged just 13.7 points and 10.2 rebounds in the Finals, with only five points and six rebounds in Game 2.
The turning point came in Game 3 when Wade dropped 42 points and 13 rebounds to spark Miami’s comeback. It was clear who the engine was. Rivers said, “People are like, well, Shaq was on the team. Shaq didn’t do much. I don’t know if you watched, he wasn’t doing too much.”
Rivers continued, giving Wade his flowers for carrying that Heat roster. “Dwyane Wade, put that entire team on his back and carried them in ’06.“ From Games 4 to 6, Wade averaged 38.3 points and 6.6 rebounds — pure dominance.
Now here’s where the thievery of joy rears its ugly head — instead of basking in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s historic 2025 NBA Championship, Rivers seemingly downplayed his Finals run. Still, Rivers gave SGA credit where it was due.
“So in totality, Shai had a more impressive year than Dwyane Wade did. But if we’re talking finals alone, I don’t know if I’m putting anybody over that ’06 Dwyane Wade run.“ SGA averaged 30.3 points, 5.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds in the Finals.
SGA shined in Game 1 despite the OKC Thunder loss, putting up 38 points and three steals. In Game 2, he exploded for 34 points and eight assists in a 123-107 blowout. Though OKC dropped Game 3, SGA had 24 points and eight boards, but six turnovers.
Game 4 saw Shai limit mistakes, recording 35 points and two turnovers. Game 5? A 31-point, 10-rebound double-double, plus four blocks. Game 6 was rough — just 21 points and eight turnovers. But he closed with 29 points and 12 rebounds in Game 7.
It’s difficult to compare the Heat’s 0-2 comeback against the 60-win Mavericks and OKC’s wire-to-wire battle capped by a Game 7 win. Both were historic, but Rivers emphasized Wade’s relentless Finals dominance: “That was like Prime Wade, too. He was just a star.”
He then praised SGA’s all-around greatness in 2025. “But in one year, it’s SGA. Last time someone did this… It was Shaq in 2000. When the last time a guard had done the sweep? Michael [Jordan]. That tells you what type of cloth we are entering,” he said.
Rivers added: “By the way, Shai is still young. This team is still very good, and they have their whole team coming back.”
So, if you ask Rivers, SGA did have the better overall season- Finals MVP, scoring champion, and Regular Season MVP. But as far as just the Finals performances go, it looks like it’ll be hard to convince him that anyone’s performed better than Wade in 2006.
