We get a first-time NBA champion this week on our second NBA Tuesday miniseries for this site, with some context for today’s column in tow. The Finals matchup guaranteed a first-time winner, and the momentum swing in the series is controversial and legendary, still. We have no comment on this, other than it’s always typical to portray someone as a rogue loner than admit the truth.

2006 NBA FINALS MVP: Dwyane Wade, SG, Miami (original, confirmed)

The Dallas Mavericks took a 2-0 lead over the Miami Heat at home before losing 4 straight games to cede the championship to the Heat. Overall, Miami outscored Dallas by just 1 ppg in the matchup, and Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade was named the MVP—with a healthy assist from center Shaquille O’Neal in the middle of the frontcourt.

Wade posted 34.7 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 3.8 apg, 2.7 spg, and 1.0 bpg in 43.5 mpg, and O’Neal was there with 13.7 ppg, 10.2 rpg, and 2.8 apg in 35.2 mpg. Veterans Antoine Walker, Alonzo Mourning, and Gary Payton also collected rings in this affair, providing quite an interesting roster for Miami, in terms of fans and TV ratings. This likely outdid the international appeal of Dallas power forward Dirk Nowitzki.

Either way, for the 19th year in a row, we confirm MVP vote. Wade led all scorers in Games 3-6, as he almost singlehandedly carried the Heat to three close victories (by a combined 6 points) and one blowout win. This is the “legendary” part of these Finals, of course: Wade’s ascension to the “Air Jordan” throne, really.

2006 NBA DPOY: Ben Wallace, C, Detroit (original); Elton Brand, PF, Los Angeles Clippers (revised)

Only 7 players met our statistical threshold for this award, and only six of those cleared our initial screening for playoff contention: San Antonio Spurs PF Tim Duncan (6.88 DWS), Detroit Pistons C Ben Wallace (6.86), Phoenix Suns PF Shawn Marion (5.94), New Jersey Nets point guard Jason Kidd (5.63), Los Angeles Clippers PF Elton Brand (5.51), and Memphis Grizzlies PF Pau Gasol (5.43).

Wallace won the vote for the fourth time, although we’ve only gifted him this hardware once, in a year he did not win the vote. Our postseason margins for error are as follows: Detroit (26), San Antonio (22), Phoenix (13), New Jersey (11), Memphis (8), and Los Angeles (6). That makes Brand our winner, in another surprising upset, really. Who would have figured? He finished tied for 10th in the vote, after all.

His stats: career-best 7.0 defensive rebounds per game, 2.5 bpg, and 1.0 spg. All this helped to build 2.6 apg as Brand also scored 24.7 ppg. The Clippers posted the lowest scoring offense and lowest scoring defense in the Pacific Division, with a plus-1.6 ppg scoring margin. In a competitive division where four of the five teams made the postseason, it’s dicey at best if L.A. earns a playoff spot without Brand’s D.