Mavs' whining paved way for Heat to take the title

	Perhaps if Mark Cuban had acted more like the smart businessman he is and less like a fan, his Mavs may have finished off the Heat. Bob Rosato/SI

As he watched them celebrate on his court, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban stood and applauded the Miami Heat, the newly crowned NBA champions. It had to grate at him, to see his team finish so close and yet so far from its first league title, but Cuban stood there, giving his conquerors their due. It was an admirable display of grace and maturity.

What a shame for the Mavericks that it came too late.

If Cuban and Mavs' coach Avery Johnson, the two leaders of the franchise, had been more like warriors than whiners during the Finals, the Mavs and their fans might not be in mourning today. There's no guarantee that things would have been different, of course; it may be that Dwyane Wade would have been too much for the Mavs in any event. But the woe-is-us tone that Cuban and Johnson set certainly didn't help matters. From Game 3 on, the Mavericks looked panicky and uptight, as if they were waiting for the next misfortune to befall them. That attitude came from the top.

So maybe the suspension of Jerry Stackhouse for Game 5 was unwarranted. So maybe the referees protected Wade as if he was a member of their family. What do you do about that if you're Cuban or Johnson? You let Darryl from Amarillo rant and rave about it on sports-talk radio and you keep your team's eyes on the prize. You certainly don't keep the issues alive by moaning and groaning about them to the media.

Even before the Heat wrapped up the title with a 95-92 victory in Game 6, there was no question which of the two teams had more of the look of a champion. Consider the way they each reacted when trouble arose. The Heat, having lost the first two games, didn't gripe or complain, they simply got on with it. Even trailing by double figures late in Game 3, they kept their composure and leaned on the remarkable Wade, who carried them through.