Dwyane Wade is not satisfied with playing in the shadow of LeBron James. Unfortunately, he is not helping himself due to a dismal 2014 NBA Finals
Both players are alphas who both sacrificed a lot when they signed with Miami in 2010. Although Wade delivered the first NBA championship to South Beach, the city has gravitated to James over the past two seasons. James gets all the “MVP” chants when he steps to the free-throw line, he was the last person to receive his ring on ring night and even when Wade is interviewed alone he receives questions about the four-time MVP.
Before the ‘Big Three’, Wade would jump on the scorer’s table and be embraced by the crowd. Miami was his city. Due to countless knee injuries over the past few seasons, Wade has been forced to become the Heat’s second option. He has admitted that it was not an easy task.
“It was probably one of the hardest things I had to do in sports was to, in a sense, take a step back,” Wade said in an 2012 ESPN interview.
This year may be his toughest. Many analysts and even Wade’s peers and former colleagues have been vocal about his loss of a step. Before the season in an interview with Eurohoops.net, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant made a bold statement.
“It’s nothing against D-Wade, he is a great player, he set his mark in the league, he is one of the best shooting guards ever, but like I said, I just thought that as an older guy, it’s time to pass the torch to the younger guys,” Durant said.
This was after he proclaimed that Wade should be replaced by James Harden in Sports Illustrated’s Top 10 rankings.
Wade took it personal:
Durant fired back on Twitter:
“Show me don’t tweet me.”
TNT personality, Charles Barkley has been talking about Wade’s declining skills for a few seasons. Last year, James defended his teammate and told Barkley to shut up. But during the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals, James called out Wade when he said that he felt he had to go back to his Cleveland days against the Indiana Pacers.
All these things have been extra motivators for Wade to redeem his past glory. Now besides just battling age and health, Wade must find a way to remind the basketball world of his value. An increase in his shots and points at the expense of James will be a problem down the stretch.
So what will be more important for Wade this season, the satisfaction of a three-peat or reclaiming Wade county?
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Leon,
The post has SOME merit as we don’t know what happens when the camera aren’t rolling. That being said, the reason–in my opinion–that the Spurs are about to close out the heat is that they are forcing LBJ to beat him by themselves and closing out on the shooters, so that there is no drive-and-kick. Think about it, no Chalmers, Allen, Battier and Cole getting open looks an average and declining Wade and bosh on and off, plus the fact that the Spurs are hitting their shots, forcing the heat to fight back from early holes, no easy lay-ups in transition and making them play half-court. That is why SA is about to win.