The star-studded Miami Heat were upset by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals.
Before tipoff of Game 5 of the series, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade infamously mocked Dirk Nowitzki, who had played with flu-like symptoms in the previous game. The two stars were caught on camera fake coughing.
Some Dallas players took offense, of course. Former Mavs player Jason Terry recently discussed who among his teammates was angered after seeing the footage.
“People like Caron [Butler] and D-Steve (DeShawn Stevenson) like, ‘Ah, yeah, they talking s—. Man, f— that. They ain’t like that. Look at ’em. They clowning us,'” Terry said. “I’m like, ‘Man, we ain’t worried about that, man. Stay focused. Stay locked in.'”
When James and Wade made the blunder, the Finals series was tied at 2-2. The Mavs then won Game 5 behind the heroics of Nowitzki, who scored 29 points. Terry also made his mark in that game by draining a 3-pointer in James’ face to give his team a seven-point cushion with 33.8 seconds remaining in the game.
Dallas carried the momentum into Game 6, defeating Miami 105-95 to clinch the championship. Terry led the Mavs in scoring with 27 points.
Nowitzki won the Finals MVP after averaging team-highs of 26.0 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. He may have had the last laugh during that season, but it was the Heat who won the next two titles.
James, who played poorly against the Mavs, was able to turn things around in the following years.
Against Dallas, he averaged just 17.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.8 assists per contest.
But versus the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2012 Finals, he recorded 28.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists per match. Against the San Antonio Spurs in the following Finals series, James averaged 25.3 points, 10.9 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game.