Dwyane Wade admits the loss in NBA Finals last season still stings; Itching to have a go again
Miami Heat super star Dwyane Wade has admitted that losing the NBA Finals this year has a left a huge scar.
The Heat star was on the losing end for the first time in the NBA Finals when Miami bowed out to the Dallas Mavericks, the last time when an NBA game was played.
Dwyane had newly acquired super stars LeBron James and Chris Bosh by his side last season and the trio made good on their potential with a strong display in the regular season. They seemed to shift gears in the playoffs as they
disposed off the mighty Boston Celtics and table topping Chicago Bulls with relative ease.
However, the Big Three couldn’t work their magic against the Dallas Mavericks when the final stage arrived. Instead Mavericks talisman Dirk Nowitzki stole the headlines with inspirational performances, walking away with a Finals
MVP trophy as well as an NBA World Championship ring.
Dwyane and his teammates have since moved on, trying to focus on the challenges ahead and preparing accordingly. The star shooting guard admits though that a niggling feeling of regret lingers in his mind as he wonders what if?
"On the outside of the flesh, yes (it eases), but on the inside it never goes away. You have to move on, you have to continue to do different things."
He said, regarding the mental aspect of the loss.
"But on the inside it burns you, at least until you get the opportunity to do it again," said Wade.
Miami had fought against adversity all season during their last campaign, when the negative attention actually spurred them on to try harder and prove the critics wrong. The final outcome was still not what Wade and his teammates
would have wished for, but the star has been around long enough to know that it is all part and parcel of the game.
"No one knows if you are going to be successful, that is part of being an athlete, getting so high and going so down and trying to get back up, that is part of it," Wade told Reuters.
He said he was now determined to get back and get better, as he looked to use the stinging loss of last season as extra motivation to get over that last hurdle when the opportunity came knocking again.
"That burning desire to get back and to try and compete, that itch that's inside of us, is still there.” Wade explained.
The Miami superstar, alongside teammate James, is arguably one of the best basketball players in the world today. The fact that he has such burning desire to win a championship next season must be a cause for concern among rival
NBA franchises.
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