The Miami Heat play the Dallas Mavericks in game SIX of the NBA Finals, Tuesday night, June 20, 2006 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Jared Lazarus/Miami Herald staff Jared Lazarus/Miami Herald staff
When the Miami Heat won its first NBA championship in 2006, two of the greatest players in franchise history were on the roster. But they were at very different stages of their careers.
Dwyane Wade was in his third NBA season, already establishing himself as a rising star in the league but still trying to prove just how special he was in his first NBA Finals experience.
Alonzo Mourning was in his 13th NBA season, with his legacy as a Heat icon already cemented but by then at the back end of his career and just trying to win his first NBA title before his playing days came to an end.
But Wade and Mourning agree that June 20, 2006 — the day the Heat defeated the Mavericks in Dallas in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to win its first NBA championship — is the most important day in Heat history.
“Oh, hands down. Are you kidding me? Yes,” Mourning said when asked if that day tops all the others in Heat history. “The turning point for us in franchise history.”
Wade also didn’t hesitate when asked that question.
“There was a standard that was set within the organization before we got there. But once we won that, now the standard was set forever outside of the organization and within the organization,” Wade said. “You set the standard, the real standard, the standard that’s the reason the Miami Heat is the organization it is. It’s the standard of winning, and we are a part of that.”
The Heat will celebrate that watershed moment in franchise history by holding “2006 NBA Champions Night” during Tuesday’s matchup against the Atlanta Hawks at Kaseya Center (7:30 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun). The Heat will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its first NBA championship with a gameday tribute to the players and coaches from that 2005-06 Heat team, including a question-and-answer session during halftime.
“I’m so excited because we worked our asses off for this,” Wade said of the upcoming celebration. “I was lucky enough to win other titles, but nothing is like that first one when you know you can do something that seems daunting and almost impossible at times. I remember crying the year before. I remember my teammates crying the year before when we lost in the Eastern Conference finals. So to be able to do that with the group that we did it with, how we did it, it’s just incredible, man. I’m just glad to be a part of the history.”
Every player from that 2005-06 Heat roster is expected to be in attendance for Tuesday’s celebration except for Jason Williams, James Posey, Derek Anderson and Shandon Anderson.
“It’s a big deal, man. It really is,” said Mourning, who has remained with the Heat in an executive role after his playing career came to an end following the 2007-08 season. “Celebrating the moment. Celebrating Miami, man. This is for Heat Nation. Heat Nation was kind of built off of that. It really was. It was kind of built off of our run, when the basketball world really took notice that this is a real deal championship franchise.”
The Miami Heat play the Dallas Mavericks in game two of the NBA Finals, Sunday night, June 8, 2006 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Jared Lazarus/Miami Herald staff Jared Lazarus/Miami Herald staff
During that 2006 playoff run to the title, the Heat’s mantra became “15 Strong.” A slogan established by then-Heat head coach Pat Riley to show that all 15 players on the roster were essential to the pursuit of a championship.
Those 15 players were Derek Anderson, Shandon Anderson, Earl Barron, Michael Doleac, Udonis Haslem, Jason Kapono, Mourning, Shaquille O’Neal, Gary Payton, Posey, Wayne Simien, Wade, Antoine Walker, Williams and Dorell Wright.
“The 15 strong mantra was a big deal, man. It really was,” Mourning said. “The story was it takes all of us. Even the guys that were on the bench, the Wayne Simiens, Michael Doleac, those guys. It took all of us. It took everybody, 15 strong in order to get this thing done.”
From that “15 Strong” mantra was born a big bowl that carried thousands of playing-card-sized paper reminders and encouragements. The bowl and cards were transported from arena to arena while remaining covered during the Heat’s 2006 playoff run, so the cards could only be seen by those on the team.
“The cards were of family members and different quotes and everything. Just all motivational stuff,” Mourning said. “It was just stuff that had meaning to us in our careers, in our lives. We just threw it in that bowl, man. That’s what we were playing for.”
It became a source of motivation for the Heat all the way to the NBA championship.
“This gave us something to have a mantra about, wrap our heads around, know that it was just for us,” Wade said “You got a lot of noise on the outside, and that was for us. And it allowed us to see it grow. And Riles did an amazing job. A lot of championship teams do this. They find something that becomes their thing that you look forward to doing after games. And we looked forward to seeing that ‘15 Strong’ pot grow. And then our families being a part of it, and then certain sayings being a part of it, and moments.
“It’s a silly thing. It’s like guys walking out and touching the sign every day. But you need what you need. Every time we watched that pile build up, we realized that it was bigger than us. We all had to accomplish this together. So, it’s a cool mantra that we always go back to. When you remember that championship, you remember ‘15 Strong.’”
Mourning and Wade still carry one of those “15 Strong” cards with them every day.
“I carry one with me in my billfold everywhere I go,” Mourning said. “Yeah, I carry one. It says, ‘Forever’ on it.”
Wade added, “I carry a card in my wallet every day.”
“What I have is I have a championship card that one side has the trophy, and the other side says, ‘Forever,’” Wade continued. “Riles gave it to us, and I carry it in my wallet every day. Because there are times when I’m out here and I don’t feel like a champion or I’m struggling or something is going on. And these little reminders in life let you know, look what you overcame, look what you were a part of, and you know you can do it. And so, I carry it.”
The Miami Heat 2006 championship banner is lifted up to the rafters during pre-game celebrations. C.W.GRIFFIN C.W.GRIFFIN
Wade became the star of the 2006 NBA Finals, putting together one of the most dominant displays in a championship series in league history to win the 2006 NBA Finals MVP award. The then-24-year-old Wade averaged 34.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.7 steals per game in the six-game series to lead the Heat to its first NBA championship.
“I’m just proud. I’m proud of us,” Wade said. “When you get to look back 20 years, it’s something that was hard to accomplish and we had every reason not to accomplish it. And to be able to do it and to overcome so many different things to do that. I just walk around with pride, man.”
Mourning was approaching the end of a Hall of Fame career and was playing as the Heat’s backup center behind O’Neal during the 2006 playoff run. The then-36-year-old Mourning averaged 4.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks off the bench in a supporting role during the 2006 NBA Finals, including in an impactful performance that included eight points, six rebounds and five blocks in a championship-clinching Game 6 victory.
“I remember Pat bringing me in here in 1995 and sharing this dream of that parade on Biscayne Boulevard,” Mourning said. “Actually being able to help make that dream happen was just so rewarding, it really was. I just felt like when I had the opportunity to step on the court and contribute, I didn’t want to disappoint. I kind of left it all out there.”
The Heat has since won two other NBA championships in 2012 and 2013 behind the Big 3 of Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Wade. But even Wade, who was a part of all three Heat titles, points to the first one in 2006 as the most significant.
“Every guy, all 15 strong, is a part of really setting that standard that we can never go back, Miami can never go back to being anything but a winning organization,” Wade emphasized. “And when you don’t win, we always talk about how we can get back to winning because we’ve felt it before, we have experienced it, our fan base has experienced it. So, really, really cool, man, to know that 20 years ago, we really put the stamp on who the Miami Heat organization is, and we’ve been relevant ever since.”
On Tuesday, the 2006 Heat championship team will come together and celebrate that accomplishment.
“I’m proud of everybody that’s going to be there,” Wade said. “And even though guys have played in other organizations and they get celebrated in other places and so forth and so on, when we all get together this week, the only thing that matters is what we all accomplished together in a Miami Heat uniform. And that’s greatness at the highest level. It’s something that we will never forget. It’s a standard that we hold every team to that comes into the Miami Heat organization year after year.”