Inside The Heat

Dallas Mavericks' Jason Kidd Channels Pat Riley In Guarantee Before Game 4

Shandel Richardson|
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

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Miami Heat

The Dallas Mavericks remained alive in the NBA Finals Friday after defeating the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

Among the most discussed moments was what happened before the game. That's when locker room cameras caught Mavs coach Jason Kidd basically guaranteeing victory.

"We go to Boston tomorrow," Kidd told the player. "I hope you guys all packed."

It was reminiscent to when Miami Heat team president Pat Riley did something similar during the 2006 Finals. After losing the first two games against the Mavs in Dallas, the Heat won all three games in Miami (back when the format was 2-3-3).

That was when Riley delivered his "one suit, one tie" speech. It meant the Heat players were only allowed to bring one change of clothes for their second trip of the series to Dallas because they were set on ending it in Game 6.

And that's exactly what happened.

Behind a third-year Dwyane Wade, the Heat won the series in six games. It was the first championship in franchise history.

Center Shaquille O'Neal has repeatedly told the story: "We go up 3-2 and then Pat Riley comes in pissed off. 'We ain't practicing today, we're going there tomorrow and you better bring one suit. When you get to the airport tomorrow I'm checkin'. If you ain't got one suit, your ass ain't coming on the plane.' So we at the airport, he was checking people's bags and we had to bring one suit.”'

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Inside The Heat. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star. TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here