The 2011 NBA Finals are most remembered for Dirk Nowitzki finally becoming champion with the Dallas Mavericks with probably the most impressive underdog run in playoff history, as they beat Kobe’s Los Angeles Lakers, Westbrook and Durant’s young OKC core, and most importantly, the Miami Heat’s Big 3 with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.
The Heat suffered a meltdown during the finals, with their stars looking incapable and frustrated as they were being surpassed by a seemingly inferior team with only one All-Star in Dirk Nowitzki and a bunch of role players.
Wade got real with LeBron James
Dwyane Wade spoke on Evan Turner and Andre Igudoala’s podcast ‘The Point Forward’, as he revealed that he was so frustrated with the way the Finals were playing out, that he yelled at LeBron James and got in his face after seeing that ‘the King’ was not matching the expectations.
I knew our relationship. I knew I could talk to Bron, because he could talk to me the same way. We ain’t sensitive. […] In that moment in Dallas it was coming down to me and him, and I didn’t feel like he was playing to the level he needed to for us to win. That moment may not have been for that finals, but the next finals, and the next finals, and the next finals.
Dwayne Wade
Miami’s Big 3
The Big 3 Heat lost those Finals, but won back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013, reaching the Finals again in 2014 and losing to Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard, Manu Ginóbili, and the San Antonio Spurs.
After losing those Finals, LeBron James came back to the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2014-15 NBA season, ending the Big 3’s run.