Dallas Mavericks’ billionaire owner Mark Cuban once accused the NBA of favoritism after Shaquille O’Neal and the Miami Heat bagged Game 5 of the 2006 NBA Finals. In fact, Cuban reportedly turned to the then-commissioner David Stern and accused him of rigging the series. In the next game, Shaquille O’Neal and the Miami Heat would win the 2006 NBA championship after securing their fourth straight win in the series.

The NBA has been accused of tampering with the outcome of games on multiple occasions. But this alleged accusation from a very influential owner in Mark Cuban is really one of the more significant ones. However, the Shark Tank investor later denied any claims of accusing the league of fixing matches.

Mark Cuban ‘accused’ Shaquille O’Neal and the Heat of winning rigged matches

The Miami Heat overcame a 2-0 deficit in the 2006 NBA Finals to win their first-ever championship in franchise history. In fact, the Heat upended the series after bagging four consecutive wins from Game 3 to Game 6. The outcome came off as a surprise to many because the Mavericks were the favorites going into the series.

As a result, a faction of fans saw foul play in certain decisions of the closely encountered series. In fact, after a controversial end to Game 5 of the series, Cuban allegedly “turned to [David] Stern and other NBA officials who were seated at the scorer’s table and was overheard to shout venomously in the jubilant din, ‘F*ck you! F*ck you! Your league is rigged!”, according to a Miami Herald report.

Later on, the league fined Cuban $250k for several acts of postgame misconduct. In the game, the business mogul protested the officials not calling a back-court violation on Dwyane Wade in overtime.

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Afterwards, Wade and Miami would benefit from a controversial foul call. Incidentally, Dwyane Wade would shoot 25 free throws in the course of the game. The same number as the entire Mavericks roster combined.

Accusations of rigging from other individuals

Meanwhile, former NBA referee Tim Donaghy also accused the NBA of rigging the 2006 Finals. In other words, Donaghy claimed that the league intended to favor the Heat temporarily to extend the series to meet viewership goals.

However, Donaghy himself has been convicted of federal fraud in the past. After his release from prison, he made a bunch of claims attempting to ‘expose’ the league’s malpractices.

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What do you think of Cuban’s alleged comments? Let us know in the comments.