Whichever way the series went, there was going to be an extraordinary story. It was either going to be a first ring for ze great German Dick Nowitzki, the veteran point guard Jason Kidd and the controversial owner Mark Cuban with the Mavericks; or the
Some background.
The Dallas Mavericks had never won an NBA title. But a couple of shrewd deals on the night of the 1998 draft, when they landed rookie Nowitzki and point guard Steve Nash for chump change - no, literally; they gave up the late Robert "Tractor" Traylor and Pat Garrity - set the franchise up for years of success.
The Mavericks became a perennial playoff team but could never get it done. In 2006, they reached the finals - also against the Heat - and led 2-0. But the Heat, led by a young Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal, then won four straight, helped by some dubious officiating.
Cuban, the Mavs owner known for his obscene wealth and propensity to get into trouble with the league's head office, kept rolling the dice, flicking Nash to the Suns and building a cast of veteran players around Nowitzki.
Meanwhile, the Heat had become a bit of a non-entity after the 2006 championship. But that all changed last year when, in possibly the most extraordinary collusion between elite athletes in the history of sport, superstar LeBron James and classy big man Chris Bosh decided to join close friend Wade.
James unwisely chose to announce his decision in an hour-long ESPN special called . . . The Decision, an appalling piece of self-promotion that made him the most pilloried figure in American sport, and turned "taking my talents to South Beach" into a catchphrase.
So in the battle between the hard-working Mavericks and the super-team Heat, it is fair to say 99% of the basketball world was rooting (American usage) for the Dallas men.
I didn't like way James left his former Cleveland Cavaliers team, but the level of opprobrium directed at him was crazy over the top. When it boils down to it, he's a basketball player hoping to win championships by joining two other great players.
Still, I was supporting the Mavericks and I'm very pleased they won. I respect Nowitzki, but I have been a long fan of Kidd, the 38-year-old floor general who will go down as one of the greatest point guards of all time.
For LeBron, the next few weeks and months are going to be very difficult as people line up to take shots at him.
But he and Wade and Bosh are too good and too young. They will be back, and they will get their rings.
Some links to post-finals reaction.-
Cuban finally gets to gloat
Cleveland people rejoice in LeBron's failure
The great Joe Posnanski offers his thoughts
"It was over before it was over"
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