Dwyane Wade expresses how he truly feels about mocking Dirk Nowitzki for being sick, before Game 5 of the 2011 NBA Finals.
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Back in 2011, we witnessed one of the biggest NBA Finals upsets in history. Dirk Nowitzki and his Dallas Mavericks team managed to overcome the wrath of Miami Heat’s “The Big Three” – LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh – and won their first-ever title. More than the upset, the embarrassment with which the Heat lost, is something Mavs fans cherish to date.
Why an embarrassment? Before Game 5’s tip-off, LeBron and Wade openly mocked Dirk, who was unwell and even played the previous game with a high fever. The duo was fake coughing and behaving pretty ignorant.
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Nowitzki and his Mavericks team took these taunts personally. Being the true professional he was, the German sharpshooter decided to let his basketball do his talking. Despite not being in his best shape, the big man put up 29 points, restricted the trio to only 59 points, and managed to take a 3-2 advantage winning the contest 112-103. Of course, Dallas went on to win Game 6 as well, lifting the Larry O’Brien.
“I would tell my son not to do something like that”: Dwyane Wade on his infamous Dirk Nowitzki-mocking incident
More than a decade after the incident, Wade spoke about how he was embarrassed about the taunting dished out to Dirk. The Heat legend discussed it in an interview with Ben Golliver of “The Washington Post“.
Ben asked: “How long did it take you to get over the 2011 Finals loss to the Dallas Mavericks? And, because so many people were upset by it, what’s your version of events when you and LeBron James coughed in the hallway because Dirk Nowitzki was sick during that series?”
Wade answered: “That process took until we got back to the Finals again. It was that long. You carry that thing. You don’t let it go. Do you get into the season and try to put it behind you? Yeah, but it burns inside you 1,000 percent.
The coughing incident was just being young. Taking something that you didn’t think was as serious — and it was serious from the standpoint of sickness and health — and just being a young kid and making fun of something. Trying to get a laugh or do something to the camera.
I don’t even like looking at the clip. I would tell my son not to do something like that. It wasn’t anything personal [toward Nowitzki]; it was just in the moment of the media trying to come up with stories. Kind of making fun of it, “Okay, he’s sick, all right; what other excuse are you going to give him?” It became a big thing. Do you mean to do something like that in the moment? Probably not, but you did it. You take it on the chin and move on.”
