2006 vs 2012: Dwyane Wade Picks His Favorite Title Winning Miami Heat Team

The 2005-06 NBA season saw a rise of a brand new champion. The city of Miami celebrated its first NBA title since its inception in 1988. The members of the Heat roster celebrated in jubilation. Dwyane Wade was on cloud nine after winning his first championship ring in his third year in the league. Wade then went on to win two more titles with the Miami Heat, before retiring in 2019. The 38-year-old recently picked the most dominating team he’s been a part of. 

Before we jump into that, D-Wade has seen several talents come and perform when he was with the Heat. If you take a look back at the title-winning 2006 roster, a star-studded lineup would stun your eyes. The Heat undeniably had a legendary team that was rightly nicknamed “15 Strong.”

The threat of Shaquille O’Neal, the experience of Gary Payton, and Alonzo Mourning, added to the flair of Wade, proved to be the perfect mix to motivate the other stars in the team. With ‘White Chocolate’ dominating with his flashy dribbles, the Heat certainly looked dangerous. 

But if you look at the 2012 Heat team, they had LeBron James. Pat Riley pulled off a gigantic move by luring in James and Chris Bosh to partner Wade. The combination didn’t fail to disappoint as the team made four straight finals. Without delving into the stats from their season, let’s hear which team was better from D-Wade himself. 

Dwyane Wade upsets a set of former Miami Heat players with his choice

When you are asked to pick between two things you dearly love, it is obviously hard to make one significant choice. Recently, Dwyane Wade found himself caged in a similar situation, but he managed to deliver an answer.

The members of the 2006 Heat team connected on a Zoom call, with their coach Pat Riley gracing the occasion as well. The video, posted on Instagram by ‘Kicks,’ shows James Posey asking a Wade a question about the 2006 and 2012 Heat team. “If they played against each other, who coming out on top?”

“2012 team,” Wade replied without any hesitation. Friendly jeers could be heard from his former teammates, who were revealing their disapproval. “Hey D-Wade get the hell outta here,” Payton exclaimed. The answer instantly changed the facial expressions of his former teammates, who were expecting a different answer. “You ain’t with us?” Wayne Simien asked.

After disappointing his ‘06 teammates, Wade had an explanation. “It is tough to gauge it because we were too fast,” Wade said, remembering his 2012 title-winning days. Big Diesel Shaq could just be seen saying “Stop it,” to Wade because in his mind the answer was just absurd.

While D-Wade has stated his opinion on his best Miami Heat team, who do you think would come out on top if there was a hypothetical match-up between these two teams?