Dwyane Wade’s legendary NBA title run, as remembered by the Heat 20 years later

Before the Miami Heat became NBA champions for the first time, Gary Payton needed to school Dwyane Wade on the bigger picture during the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the Chicago Bulls.

Among a roster of combustible personalities, tension fluctuated throughout the Heat’s 2005-06 season. Shaquille O’Neal had been fined $25,000 for criticizing referees. Udonis Haslem was suspended Game 2 after throwing his mouthpiece in the series opener. James Posey had his own suspension after being ejected from Game 3 for hip-checking Kirk Hinrich.

Frustration hit a new level in June 2006 when Payton and Wade argued in a huddle during Game 4 of the series. The argument centered around Miami’s 11th turnover just before halftime, a crosscourt pass Wade threaded through four Bulls defenders before it bounced off his teammate’s hands and out of bounds.

“I didn’t think (Wade) understood what was going on,” Payton told The Athletic. “I think he thought a young, brash kid could talk to a veteran the way he did. But I had to tell him, ‘Yo, this is a big brother thing. This ain’t about no ego. I’m just trying to tell you how to get over it, be a champion and be a man.’

“And that’s what happened.”

Twenty years ago as of Saturday, in a postseason where mistakes are normal but margins are thin, a veteran-laden roster featuring a Hall of Fame coach in Pat Riley was highlighted by Wade, then a 24-year-old phenom, a third-year pro hungry to prove himself among the more established players. Much of the team’s fortunes rested on Wade’s shoulders, and veterans like Payton, O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Antoine Walker and Jason Williams all were hoping for one last shot at NBA supremacy.

After that Windy City dispute, one of which Mourning called “quarrels and adversity,” the Heat banded together to not only win the series against the Bulls in six games, but later take out the New Jersey Nets (4-1) and Detroit Pistons (4-2) to advance to the NBA Finals. After falling behind 2-0 against the Dallas Mavericks, the Heat then won four straight games to earn its first Larry O’Brien Trophy, the deciding game a 95-92 nail-biter on June 20, 2006, in which Wade finished with 36 points and 10 rebounds and was ultimately named NBA Finals MVP.

In bringing a championship, Wade helped to claim a county and more. The title did its part in cementing Miami-Dade County and the surrounding South Florida area as a viable hotbed for championship hoops. Since Miami drafted Wade with the No. 5 pick in 2003, the franchise ranks second in the NBA with 143 playoff wins and three titles.

But the 2006 finals remains Wade’s basketball masterpiece, one that saw him join Michael Jordan (1993), Rick Barry (1967) and Elgin Baylor (1962) as the only players with four consecutive 35-point games in the league’s championship series. From Games 3 through 6, Wade scored 16 more points in the paint than any Mavericks player.

“Bottom line, in the finals, it was kind of Jordan-esque. It really was,” Mourning told The Athletic of Wade’s performance. “He averaged almost 40 points a game in the finals. That’s getting it done. And it just took the others to kind of come together and do their part — you know, me, Shaq, (James) Posey, J-Dub (Jason Williams), Udonis (Haslem), and Antoine Walker, all of us.

“We contributed in our own little ways from that perspective, but D-Wade was phenomenal to watch. He threw us on his shoulders. He just carried us.”

Payton knew Miami needed Wade to take over to actualize its championship hopes and also establish a title-winning culture in an area that long loved football before the Heat made it a basketball city. To this day, Payton insists the argument was less about a singular turnover and more bout ensuring the team stayed together in trying time. Despite being known for having one of the brashest personalities in the league, Payton also valued Wade and his other Heat teammates “like brothers.” Payton’s All-Star days were behind him, but he prided himself in helping the Heat maintain a sharp, discerning sense of self-awareness.

“I was 37 years old at the time, and it was like, ‘Yo, man, come on. Our time is over,’” Payton said. “We need to know what’s gonna work for us (and) don’t have an ego about it.

“What worked for us: Get the ball to (Wade), we play defense, hit big shots when we needed to, and he put it on his back.”

Though led by Wade, Miami’s first title was an ode to a foundation Mourning laid during the franchise’s first windows of contention during the mid-1990s. He was the first established All-Star to choose Miami as an NBA home and owns the only two Defensive Player of the Year awards in franchise history.

Six years before the finals, Mourning was diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a kidney disease that paused his career and led to a transplant from his cousin in 2003. The next year, Mourning was traded to the New Jersey Nets, but health concerns abbreviated his stint before he was dealt to the Toronto Raptors for Vince Carter. He was bought out of the remainder of his deal and returned to the Heat on a minimum contract on March 1, 2005.

About a year later, then at the age of 35, Mourning suffered a partial tear in his left calf muscle as the 2006 playoffs neared. It was a tough blow for a Miami frontline reliant on two aging bigs, Mourning and O’Neal, who could still impact games but needed sound maintenance.

Despite his challenges at that point, even a past-prime Mourning was a valuable contributor off Miami’s bench during that postseason run, leading the team in shooting percentage (70.3) and ranking third in blocks (24) despite not starting a game. His five blocks in Game 6 of the 2006 finals are tied for the second-most by any reserve and defined the tenacity he brought to the franchise.

“Zo was the standard of what a Miami Heat player looked like when we got here, from the (low) body fat to the way he played the game to the way he talked about the culture,” Wade told The Athletic. “We just wanted to hold that standard. We want to make sure that GP, Antoine Walker — some of our game’s greats that didn’t get an opportunity to win — had an opportunity to do it here together.”

“When we got Zo here in my first month, 1995, from that on, he was the one anchor,” Riley told The Athletic. “UD (Udonis Haslem) is the other anchor. We got two real anchors that have stayed with the franchise forever. They are not only givers in the community; they are mentors to our players and how Miami feels about these guys. They love them to death. They’re Miami’s favorite sons.”

Mourning’s legacy in South Florida is undeniable, balancing between his on-court accomplishments and philanthropic efforts, the latter including organ donor advocacy, supporting housing development and providing financial support to patients who cannot afford medication. Although Mourning made a couple detours before returning to Miami, he became the franchise’s all-time leader in blocks and said there was no better place for him to have earned a ring.

“It was a tremendous relief, because you think about the years where, on paper, it looked like it was our time to win it. We just came up short, you know?” Mourning told The Athletic. “But Pat Riley would always say, ‘You never know you’re gonna win a championship until you win one.’

“I feel somewhat of an obligation (for) as much as the community has lifted me up over the years and supported me then just the strength that I’ve gotten and the energy they’ve spilled out into my life over the years. It’s allowed me to have this successful career. A lot of it is due to the fact that the Heat Nation lifted me up through some difficult times. This South Florida community will always have a place in my heart.”

Members of Miami’s 2006 title team remain distinctly proud of delivering a ring to Zo.

Wade, who was drafted fifth overall in the same 2003 class as then-future teammates LeBron James and Chris Bosh, still had championship days ahead of him at the time. Dorrell Wright, though, recalls Mourning often telling Wade “don’t mess up my championship.”

Pat Riley coached Alonzo Mourning in Miami from 1995 to 2003, and again from 2005 to 2008. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press)

Throughout Riley’s illustrious career, he’s participated in roughly 25 percent of the NBA’s finals either as a player, coach or executive. The 2006 ring merely added to an already impressive collection.

He believes that ring remains distinct because of how he saw Wade evolve. Riley said with Wade on the roster, some of the veteran players that had won before were able to find another gear.

They already had wisdom and talent. With Wade leading, they had a new motivation to win.

“He proved in the playoffs that he went to another level,” Riley said. “He was the best player in the world at that time. A lot of the older guys struggled a little bit during the season.”

After being drafted No. 7 out of Kentucky in 1967, Riley teamed with Hall of Famers like Baylor, Elvin Hayes, Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Gail Goodrich and Paul Westphal. Riley was a member of the 1972 Los Angeles Lakers squad that won an NBA-record 33 consecutive games during the regular season before completing a gentleman’s sweep of the New York Knicks in that year’s finals.

His coaching days saw him lead championship-challenging charges with Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and Patrick Ewing. His five titles as a coach trail only Phil Jackson (11) and Red Auerbach (nine) for the most in league history, and his 171 playoff wins are the second-most by any NBA coach ever.

Being an executive for Miami has granted him opportunities to win big with LeBron James and Chris Bosh in the fold. Since Riley’s last go-around as coach, after which former Heat assistant Erik Spoelstra took over, the Heat have the league’s fifth-best record, 14 playoff berths, six NBA Finals appearances and two more rings.

Yet nothing in Riley’s career compares to what he saw Miami accomplish as Wade led the way while applying humbling learned lessons. As Wade puts it, “Pat has been around Magic and around Mike,” referring to Riley’s time coaching against Jordan in the ’90s.

“I hate the fact the 20 years has gone so fast, because a lot of other things have happened during that time,” Riley said. “But I’d go back to that specific championship as one of the best that I’ve been part of. I’ve been part of nine title teams. That and the ’85 championship with the Lakers are the two preeminent championships, as far as having to break through.”

O’Neal was accustomed to championship basketball before the Heat acquired him. The 1999-2000 regular-season MVP, three-time champion and three-time NBA Finals MVP made five championship-round appearances in prior stops with the Orlando Magic and the Lakers. Penny Hardaway and Kobe Bryant were O’Neal’s first experiences playing alongside dominant NBA guards, but he was the focal point of all things Orlando and Los Angeles and was expected to be the final piece to Miami’s championship aspirations after the franchise made one conference-finals appearance in its first 16 years of existence.

On a hot July 2004 day, his first act as the newest member of the organization was to spray Miami fans with a water gun. He would later promise them an NBA title.

For the 2004-05 season, O’Neal finished second to Steve Nash in MVP voting as he averaged a double-double for the final time in his 19-year career. Though he remained All-NBA-caliber a year later, he said he thought his decline started during the 2006 finals; he shot 60.7 percent but ranked sixth among all players between both the Heat and the Mavericks in points. An even more damning nod to O’Neal’s point? The Heat were outscored by 28 points across his 211 minutes on the floor against Dallas, a far cry from his plus-62 mark in his first five appearances.

Although Payton and Wade had that Windy City dispute, O’Neal recalled Payton calling him out after Miami lost the first two games against the Mavericks. O’Neal said the message was a real turning point.

“Gary said, ‘Motherf—ing Shaq, you’re not doing s–t! Let’s just give the ball to D-Wade,’” O’Neal told The Athletic. “And I said, ‘OK.’”

As Wade evolved into Miami’s star player, O’Neal took the transition in stride. He added that while his Miami ring is his favorite, it also was his most difficult. The acclaim he received in the 2006 finals paled to prior runs.

But O’Neal felt validated in wanting to to play alongside a player he thought could help him win one more time.

“D-Wade was the reason I came here,” O’Neal said. “I said to myself, ‘I’m gonna be traded somewhere. I needed to be traded to a place where there’s gonna be another guy.’ … When I had chances to go places, I said, you know what? I want to go play with that kid.”

Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal were two key members of the Miami Heat’s 2006 NBA Finals team. (Jeff Haynes / AFP via Getty Images)

Since Miami’s 2006 title, Mourning, O’Neal Haslem and several other members remain in proximity to basketball, via roles within the front office, in broadcast roles or in other areas of the game. Wade — like Riley, O’Neal, Mourning and Payton — is a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer. His basketball portfolio has grown from that of a young prodigy leading a title run into a multitime champion, a social justice and LGBTQ+ advocate, an Olympic gold medalist, an on-air analyst and a team executive — 20 years removed from Payton explaining the bigger picture to him.

Wade and Haslem are the only two Heat players a part of all three of the franchise’s titles. When Wade and his family first visited Miami, they were in awe of the perfect fit between their last name and Dade County, quickly adjusting to fans who deemed the area “Wade County” upon arrival.

“Wade County — it’s all of our names,” Wade said. “I think it was the first moment that we looked around and we felt like, ‘Man, we had a home.’ We had a place that accepted us for who we were. And at that time, obviously, we became winners in everybody eyes. It was a cool thing, man.”

Now, Wade’s name can be found at the Miami intersection of Northeast 7th Street from Biscayne Boulevard to Northeast 2nd Avenue near Kaseya Center — a reminder of the lessons applied from that Windy City dispute with Payton in a series that helped build Miami into basketball champion and make Wade a future legend.

“Man, I wanna find that again. Whatever zone that was, let me go find that zone,” Wade said. “Let me find that gear. Let me lock back in. … That was my moment. That was our moment.”