NBA Miami Heat

Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade’s Fun Is A Relative Term

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No Fun For Wade

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

With respect to a Rant Sports colleague of mine named Timothy Downs, I disagree with his article.

Yes, Dwyane Wade is an all-time great player. But like all all-time great players (and not just in the NBA), there has to be a bigger reason for an injured, overworked player to continue to put miles on his body than just putting a ball in a basket. Fun, of course, is a metaphor for a specific mood and culture set in the locker room — which can be appropriately used towards their locker room’s mood last season. And yes, that does matter. The word “fun” was not used the way a child does when he is playing on a trampoline. It was used in his specific context, as a basketball player in the NBA. In the grand scheme of sports in general, as we cover it, we can always deride sports figures like Wade for their unbelievable privilege. But that won’t change because we do. Every athlete thinks they are above the fray in terms of their status in society over against, for example, a garbageman.

Aside from that, the Miami Heat did not cater to his every whim. On almost every deal he took last season, he got the short end of the stick. He took less money (to presumably get his “best friend” back). He took a big cut in the shots he took; both in degree and in kind. He held the ball less, which is something he had been used to before LeBron James got to the Heat. His playing less games was a result of the systemic and structural conditions of the team at large. It wasn’t as though he was having sit-downs with Micky Arison asking to sit one of two games. This was a condition the team placed on him to be healthy. In the Eastern Conference Finals, he looked pretty healthy to me. He averaged 19.8 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game and 4.7 assists per game. Oh, and he shot 54 percent from field-goal range and 46 percent from three-point range. It just so happens that in the Finals, his legs were gone and they lost the series.

Then, his teammate left. Then, the country decided to place him on the “players who are becoming more like Steve Nash” list. This is the list of players who should retire after next season. Then, other teammates left, thinking their chances of winning would be better with the other teammate. If the reader hasn’t noticed I’m referring to James. If this does not create the conditions for a player to be much more motivated to come back and play well, then I don’t really know what will.

That being said, to suggest Wade is simply taking his money and sitting on his La-Z-Boy chair is, to my mind, a misreading of both this player’s character and the situation.

Christopher Cruz is a Miami Heat writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him/her on Twitter @_chris_cruz, “Like” him/her on Facebook or add him to your network on Google 

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