Kirschman: Mavs, Heat get rematch

I was hoping that the Miami Heat wouldn’t get this far.

As soon as LeBron James finished… I was hoping that the Miami Heat wouldn’t get this far.

As soon as LeBron James finished “The Decision” special on ESPN in July, I started hoping that a clash of egos between James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh would lead to an underachieving season of epic proportions for the team from South Beach.

For a while, it did look like the Heat were going to struggle. But then they caught fire — no pun intended.

So now the NBA Finals are set to begin between the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks. There’s no question who I’m going to be pulling for.

My preference for the Mavericks doesn’t even completely stem from how James acted when he left Cleveland.

My disdain for the Heat doesn’t end with the image of James, Wade and Bosh prancing around on stage in their uniforms with fireworks going off around them before the season even started — although that definitely didn’t help.

One of the main reasons I’m pulling for the Dallas Mavericks goes back to the 2006 NBA Finals against the Heat. This was when James was still with the Cavaliers, and Cleveland had a sports team to care about.

The Mavs had a 2-0 series lead over the Heat after winning the first games by double digits. It looked like Dallas was going to run away with the championship. Then suddenly, the referees decided to make the foul line Wade’s new home.

Wade shot a record number of free throws over the next four games, averaging about 25 per game, as the Heat went on a winning streak to take the championship. Needless to say, passionate Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wasn’t pleased.

In fact, he was fined $250,000 after Game Five for charging onto the court to yell at the referees and later using profanity during interviews.

Despite Cuban’s outburst, referee Danny Crawford and the crew continued blatantly to protect Wade, and, as a result, the Heat hoisted the trophy at the end of that season.

Even if James and Bosh hadn’t joined the Heat and even if James hadn’t announced his decision in over-the-top fashion on national television, I’d still be pulling for the Mavs to get their revenge.

I might be pulling for the Mavs anyway. I love Cuban. I think he’s a fantastic owner. Every day I wake up hoping he’ll buy the Pirates.

He says what he thinks although it often leads to a fine. He’s been fined 16 times in 12 years. But the thing about Cuban is that you can tell that he cares. He’s visible and fiery, and he sticks up for his team.

There is no doubt that Cuban loves the Mavericks and the game of basketball. Some people say he’s as easy to hate as James, but I disagree. At least Cuban is loyal.

Plus, he was born in Pittsburgh and attended Pitt for one year. So if you’re in Pittsburgh looking for a rooting interest in the NBA Finals, there you go.

Then there’s the Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki, one of the greatest players in the game today. Like James, he doesn’t have an NBA Championship. Unlike James, he’s a likable player who I’d love to see finally get one.

One of the main differences between Nowitzki and James? Nowitzski chose to stay. James promised Cleveland a championship, then bolted as soon as it got too tough in order to join two other superstars in Miami.

Not only did he leave, he told the world he was leaving in dramatic fashion on ESPN. Sorry LeBron, nobody is that important.

Nowitzki, on the other hand, stayed with the Mavs despite the fact that the Lakers and the Spurs in the West repeatedly defeated them. While James spends a lot of time talking about himself, Nowitzki tends to focus on the team.

“I’m not really worried about all that [my legacy],” he told The New York Times. “I’m trying to be on the best team. I’m trying to win it for this organization, for the owner, for myself and for the team.”

There’s no player I’ve enjoyed watching in the NBA playoffs more than Nowitzki. His jump shot is a beautiful thing.

It will also be a beautiful thing if the Mavericks take this series from the Heat.

Not only will the Mavericks earn redemption for the 2006 loss to the Heat and the referees, but James and his teammates won’t have a reason to get up on a stage in Miami again — although they didn’t really need a reason last time.