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Dirk Nowitzki Says LeBron James & Dwyane Wade Mocking Him During 2011 NBA Finals Was ‘Disrespectful’
After acquiring LeBron James and Chris Bosh in the summer of 2010, the Miami Heat instantly made the impression that they were the team to beat in the NBA around that time. In their first year together, it looked like LeBron James will finally capture his first ring, and the Larry O’Brien Trophy will head back to South Beach.
But they shouldn’t have counted their chickens before they were hatched, as the Dallas Mavericks, led by and incredible Dirk Nowitzki, proved everyone wrong and beat the Heat in six games during the 2011 NBA Finals.
The Mavericks put on a show in the playoffs, swept the defending champions Los Angeles Lakers and beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, yet they were pretty much disrespected by countless of fans who thought the Heat got everything all locked up.
More so, not only fans, but also Dwyane Wade and LeBron James disrespected the Mavericks and Nowitzki especially.
When Dirk Nowitzki suffered from flu-like symptoms in Games 4 and 5, but still managed to perform at a high level, a video of the two Heat stars surfaced in which they mocked Nowitzki by coughing and jokingly discussing how they were getting sick.
During an interview with Yahoo! Sports, Nowitzki, now reveled that he found it “disrespectful”:
“We saw it after Game 5, but I didn’t see it. Honestly, I felt it was a little disrespectful,” Nowitzki said. “[But] it didn’t add to my motivation, if that makes sense. I’m one game away from achieving my dreams, one I’ve chased 12 years into the league.”
