The 2006 NBA season is an underrated gem in the league’s historical treasure chest. It was a season that marked threshold points for several franchises and for the league overall. The year saw some fantastic playoff series, and it had a controversial ending. All in all, 2006 was a year to remember for reasons that include these:
*Dwayne Wade is in the Hall of Fame and his breakout year was 2006. The great guard led the Miami Heat to the NBA championship. And while Wade was arriving, the Heat’s championship run was a last hurrah for legendary center Shaquille O’Neal. What’s more, Pat Riley came down from the front office and coached one more championship team himself.
*The Dallas Mavericks had been gradually ascending since drafting Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavs had their big breakthrough, as they reached the NBA Finals.
*While Miami and Dallas would be on the league’s biggest stage, a 21-year-old by the name of LeBron James was coming into his own. LeBron’s Cleveland Cavaliers won 50 games and made the playoffs, starting an era where “King James” would be a regular in the postseason.
*The Los Angeles Clippers have been one of the league’s star-crossed franchises. Since moving west in the 1970s, they had never won a postseason series. Led by Elton Brand, the Clips made some franchise history, finally reaching the second round.
*The Phoenix Suns were renowned for their high-octane offense. They were coached by Mike D’Antonio and the great point guard Steve Nash, orchestrated the attack on the floor. Nash won his second straight MVP award and this era of Suns basketball peaked in 2006.
*Small-market franchises in Sacramento, Memphis, and Indiana had been on steady runs of making the playoffs and, in some cases, deep advancement into the postseason. All three teams made the playoffs this year, but in all three cases, they lost right away and began a downward trajectory.
*An upward trajectory was taking place with the Los Angeles Lakers. After a hard collapse in 2005 following the departure of Shaq to Miami, the Lakers called Phil Jackson back to the sidelines, Kobe Bryant won a scoring title and Los Angeles returned to the postseason—starting a climb that would culminate with three straight Finals trips from 2008-10, and a pair of titles.
*It was a bounceback year in New Jersey. After two seasons of decline from their 2002-03 peak of reaching the Finals, the Jason Kidd-led Nets followed a nice season by winning a playoff series.
*And we haven’t even mentioned the league’s two best regular season teams. The Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs played a seven-game Finals in 2005, and each rolled to their respective #1 seeds this year. Tough playoff losses were a bitter pill for both, but the Pistons and Spurs continued to be among the league’s elite in 2006.
*The postseason started with some thrilling matchups. LeBron’s playoff debut was marked by a series with the Washington Wizards where three games went down to the final shot. In all three cases, the Cavs turned defeat into victory at the last second. LeBron made two of those shots and Cleveland survived. Out west, the Suns dug themselves a 3-1 hole against the Lakers before rallying to win. And in the second round, the seven-game thriller between the Mavericks and Spurs was arguably the greatest playoff series ever played.
*Thus, it came back to Miami and Dallas at the end. The Mavericks won the first two games at home, before the Heat responded with two wins of their own. In Game 5, Wade would shoot 25 free throws by himself, as many as the entire Maverick team. The last two, taken after a phantom foul with one second left, allowed the Heat to escape with a one-point win. They closed out the title in Game 6. Miami celebrated. Dallas fumed. Both with justification.
You can read the season-long narratives of all these teams, as well as every other playoff team at the links below.
NBA FINALISTS
READ ABOUT THE 2006 MIAMI HEAT
READ ABOUT THE 2006 DALLAS MAVERICKS
CONFERENCE FINALISTS
READ ABOUT THE 2006 DETROIT PISTONS
READ ABOUT THE 2006 PHOENIX SUNS
CONFERENCE SEMI-FINALISTS
READ ABOUT THE 2006 CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
READ ABOUT THE 2006 NEW JERSEY NETS
READ ABOUT THE 2006 SAN ANTONIO SPURS
READ ABOUT THE 2006 LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
MADE THE PLAYOFFS
READ ABOUT THE 2006 WASHINGTON WIZARDS
READ ABOUT THE 2006 INDIANA PACERS
READ ABOUT THE 2006 CHICAGO BULLS
READ ABOUT THE 2006 MILWAUKEE BUCKS
READ ABOUT THE 2006 MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
READ ABOUT THE 2006 DENVER NUGGETS
READ ABOUT THE 2006 LOS ANGELES LAKERS
READ ABOUT THE 2006 SACRAMENTO KINGS