“You just can’t give LeBron James freebies”: Dirk Nowitzki’s Hall of Fame teammate decodes The King, talks 2011 NBA Finals

The 5x assist leader reveals how they stopped LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh by simply stopping the first of the three.

When LeBron James came up with “The Decision” to join forces with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, it was primarily to deal with the Celtics’ side in the East and Kobe Bryant and company in the West.

It was to take the championship from the champions of the last three years. It would never have occurred to anyone that none of those three teams will lift the Larry O’Brien that year.

But there was someone who was waiting for that season for 11 years and he was one of the best players in the league who had never won a championship.

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His name was Dirk Nowitzki, the heart and soul of the Dallas Mavericks franchise, which was also thirsty for its first NBA championship.

But how did he and an average Mavericks team play not-so-average basketball and beat arguably the greatest trio of superstars in the history of the game?
Let’s hear it from Jason Kidd.

How did Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks stop LeBron James?

The Mavericks had a lucky break when they got future Hall of Famer Kidd in a midseason trade in 2008. His leadership, they hoped, would be the missing piece to win a championship.

And rightfully so, not early on, but he made Nowitzki’s team a chip contender after losing two years in the first round and one in the second. But beating LeBron, Wade and Bosh while doing it was the best part.

So they did. Current Mavericks coach revealed in all the smoke podcast.

With a career average of 28.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 7.8 assists, it was the worst Finals series ever for the 4x Finals MVP who could only manage 17.8 points in that series, along with 7.2 rebounds and 6.8 assists.

Imagine the level of determination required to defeat the dominance and finesse of LBJ, D-Wade and Bosh. It seems that Nowitzki and Co. had all of those things and more.

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