Antoine Walker dismisses the notion D-Wade was protected by the refs in the 2006 NBA Finals: "When you are attacking the basket, you are going to get call"

The 2006 NBA finals had much at stake, as the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks were vying for their first title.

It looked to be heading one way midway through Game 3 as Dallas was closing in on a 3-0 series lead. However, Miami recovered from a 13-point deficit to lead with just around nine seconds left. When Mavs superstar Dirk Nowitzki missed 1-of-2 free throws in an opportunity to tie the game, the momentum shifted in the Heat’s favor.

Controversial officiating

Having won Games 3 and 4 to tie the series, Game 5 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami was poised. With just 9.1 seconds left in overtime, the Heat were down by one point. They inbounded the ball to Dwayne Wade , and he caught it mid-air before landing in the backcourt. All blue jerseys were convinced this was a backcourt violation. But the refs didn’t see it that way.

Then, the Mavericks were hit with a controversial foul call. Wade stepped up to the line with 1.9 seconds left and made both free throws, taking his tally for the night to 25 attempts from the charity stripe, matching the entire Mavericks roster. Miami went on to make it three straight victories to take command.

In the end, it was one of those games that people still talk about, especially Dallas fans, who still think that the officiating favored Wade that night; he scored 21 of 25 free throws to his 43 points that night. However, former Heat player Antoine Walker sees it differently, recently saying that every call in No. 3’s favor was correct.

“D-Wade was not a great 3-point shooter; he didn’t rely on his jumpshot,” Walker said . “Everything was to the basket. He was in attack mode. When you attack in the basket like that, you are going to get the call. You are going to get the fairness of the whistle.”

Playing the Wade way

Eventually, Miami won Game 6 in Dallas to seal the franchise’s first championship as Wade was named the Finals MVP. To this day, this series still haunts Mavs fans , as Dwyane’s clutch jump shooting and his ingenuity on drives to the basket still replay in their heads.

“He was not a jump shooter; D-Wade was a slasher. D-Wade was great in the open court. He’s one of the best players in open court. You got to know what type of player that he was back then, so people don’t understand that. He was not a guy that was going to shoot six threes in a game,” Walker added.

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