What would help is if Cuban didn’t lead the charge to blame others for the team’s losses. He’s a highly intelligent and aggressive man, and, when you team those qualities up with more money than he can ever spend, you can end up with someone who has no reason not to say whatever he’s thinking, even in the heat of emotional moments, when even an intelligent man’s thinking can tend to the irrational.

Whether he charged David Stern with running a “rigged” league or not, when that quote was reported third-hand in the Miami Herald, it was easy to believe Cuban had actually said it, because it’s easy to believe he’d say anything. And he’s been wildly critical of the officiating so often, the alleged statement — he denied making it — fits right in with other of his rants.

That rubs off on the players. If the owner who never criticizes them keeps blaming the officials, the players will, too. And in the NBA, where so many calls are in the eyes of the whistle blowers, it’s easy to believe that the zebras have it out for one team or another.

I still haven’t seen the foul on Wade that enabled the Heat to win Game 5 in overtime. But I can see where it could have been called by an official who was looking at Wade’s reaction to something that the ref never clearly saw. It’s not a conspiracy, it’s basketball. And in the game, the reality is that great and aggressive players tend to get the calls, especially when they’re the little guys who drive to the basket and not the big ones who take root under it.

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Coaches have been whining about calls forever. It’s never done anyone any good, and it’s done a lot of harm, both to the psyche of teams and to the image of the league.

The Mavs first assumed the series was over, then, when the Heat showed that it wasn’t, got caught up in whining about how they were being treated. They never found the answers to the same questions that Riley faced.

The Mavs are a superb and highly entertaining team with more depth and better athletes than the Heat. But the Heat won the prize.

It wasn’t because Miami wanted it more, but because the Heat focused on what they had to do to win. When the pressure was on, they got better because Riley convinced them they were the masters of their fate.

The Mavs got worse. But that’s what happens when you spend too much time looking for excuses. You eventually find them. And then you lose.

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