As part of the core of perhaps the NBA’s most despised team, Dwyane Wade knows a thing or two about “making it work”.
Despite acquiring the league’s best big man and one of its best floor generals, skepticism abounds among the NBA’s elite when it comes to the Lakers. Kevin Durant recently made known his own doubts about the Lakers. Fairly enough, Durant made the point that getting that team together and getting them to play together are different obstacles. Though acquiring both Howard and Nash was huge, the Lakers still have to figure out how this is going to work on the court.
That question has had the mess kicked out of it, but can anyone really be surprised by the skepticism? With every team that looks like the result of some cheat code, there is rampant criticism and doubters are all over the place. It doesn’t take too long for the “analysis” to start to sound the same. One analyst thinks that Dwight’s back will be a problem, the other thinks Kobe might not mix well with Nash and Dwight, and so on and so forth.
And you know what? The points made by these analysts (including my man, Mr.Favale) aren’t necessarily wrong. They just get exhausting. For every Favale, there’s a dozen other guys who see the same thing, in different words.
That’s why hearing something from Wade, lead guitarist for the Heatless, was refreshing. To be sure, Wade didn’t say a whole lot:
“‘They’ll be great, but they have to make it work. Some people figure it out right away, some people take till mid-season to figure it out and some take until the next year if they figure it out. Obviously for them, they need to be successful as they want to be, they’re going to have to do it right away.’
Via Slam Online.
Respectful and observant. Same old, same old from Wade.
His words aren’t as important as the fact that he should know, a bit more than others, about this. Wade knows a few things about striving for the Larry O’Brien trophy with a new team. After all, 2006’s Finals MVP had to go through two seasons with the strain of a “us against the world” mentality. It often looked like the Heat, led by their despised new addition Lebron James, really were fighting the world in their quest for a championship.
In the first year that Lebron sported a Heat jersey, basketball was no fun for Wade. The game had become less about winning and more about just not losing. As a result, every game seemed to be some marquee match-up where “the Heat could lose, here”.
Wade goes on to shoulder the effort to bring this team together, all the way through the 2010-2011 play-offs, ending in a disappointing Finals loss to the Dallas Mavericks. The next year, Wade stepped back, permanently, and let the best player on the planet do what he does.
Miami’s number 3 became the glue this team needed, blocking, stealing, hustling his way to a championship run. He went through the aging tension of that first season with James and Bosh as teammates. He adjusted his role, and delivered a championship. Through all of the talk, all of the criticism (unwarranted or otherwise), and the ill wishes of all but one state in the USA, Dwyane Wade, and the Miami Heat made it work.
If there’s anyone whose opinion I’d like to hear on bringing a team together and achieving a title through adversity, it’s Mr. Wade.
Mohamed Abdihakim is a journalism student at Florida Atlantic University. He is a Phoenix Suns fan, who is not prepared for the possibility of Nash winning a title in a Lakers jersey. Mohamed is also a contributor at “Les Snobs”. Interests include International basketball, Mad Men , and blues music. Twitter handle: @Abdi_hakim
