Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban insists simply saying that he hates the Miami Heat would be a disservice.
"Hate's a strong word, but it's probably not strong enough," Cuban told CBSSports.com about the disdain he feels for the two-time reigning NBA champs. "It's not the individual players at all. It's just the whole representation of 2006 still sticks to me."
Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs blew a 2-0 series lead that year, eventually losing the title to Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal 4-2. Five years later the two teams again met for the chip and somehow the underdog Mavs returned the favor, knocking off Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh in the first season of the Big Three.
According to CBS, Wade has long had a long-standing feud with the Mavs based on the organizations perception that he drew too many fouls against the team in the 2006 Finals.
That next season, Wade told reporters "you're remembered for what you did at the end. . . . I think that's the reason - Dirk says they gave us the championship, but he's the reason they lost the championship, because he wasn't the leader that he's supposed to be in the closing moments. That's because of great defense by us, but also he wasn't assertive enough as a leader's supposed to be."
Late last June, Nowitzki again entered the fray when he told ESPN of the Heat "in life, I don't really hate much. "I'm an easygoing guy, but that's probably about as close as it gets."
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