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| Dates | June 8–20 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MVP | Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat) | |||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Heat: Alonzo Mourning (2014) Shaquille O'Neal (2016) Gary Payton (2013) Dwyane Wade (2023) Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki (2023) Coaches: Pat Riley (2008) Officials: Dick Bavetta (2015) | |||||||||
| Eastern finals | Heat defeated Pistons, 4–2 | |||||||||
| Western finals | Mavericks defeated Suns, 4–2 | |||||||||
The 2006 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2005–06 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Dallas Mavericks were favored to win the championship over the Miami Heat.[1] Despite these odds, the Heat won the title in six games over the Mavericks, becoming the third team—after the 1969 Celtics, the 1977 Trail Blazers and later the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2021 Milwaukee Bucks—to win a championship after trailing 0–2 in the series. Dwyane Wade of the Heat was named Most Valuable Player of the series.[2]
The series featured two teams who had never previously appeared in the Finals for the first time since 1971, and it was consequently the first Finals since 1978 where neither team had previously won an NBA title. The next Finals appearance for both franchises would come five years later in 2011, with the Mavericks winning the rematch over the Heat.
This was the second NBA Finals match-up of teams from Florida and Texas, after the Houston Rockets and Orlando Magic contested the 1995 NBA Finals. Until the Miami Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs in the 2013 NBA Finals, it was the last Finals loss by a team from Texas (Houston lost in 1981 and 1986) versus eight Finals victories (five by San Antonio, two by Houston, and one by Dallas) including the Spurs in 2007 and the Mavericks in 2011. This was the only Finals of the 2000s not to involve the Los Angeles Lakers or the San Antonio Spurs, and the first since 1995 not to feature either Phil Jackson or Gregg Popovich as head coach. It was also the first Finals where the same company (American Airlines) owned the naming rights to both home arenas; however, the Miami arena is now known as the Kaseya Center.
- ^ "2006 NBA Playoffs Series Prices". Sports Odds History. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ "2006 NBA Finals, Heat vs Mavericks". Basketball-Reference.com.