Dwyane Wade reflects on 2010-11 NBA Finals heartbreak; vows to come back stronger – NBA Update
Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade has been in a lot of spotlight off late and recently, he spoke about the NBA Finals 2011. The shooting guard, who is considered as one of the best in the league, was part of the Miami side that lost
to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 Finals in six games.
The Heat were favourites going into the Finals. They boasted the star trio of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh, together known as the Big Three. Miami had come through a tough regular season to dominate in the playoffs.
They put down the Boston Celtics and their aging stars Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen in the second round. Afterwards they matched up against the league topping Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals. However
Chicago, even with MVP Derrick Rose, were no match for the red hot Heat who marched into the Finals with pomp.
Wade knows that the Heat were considered the stronger side coming into the series, but conceded that in the end Dallas deserved their win. The Mavericks brought with them an experienced roster with stars such as Shawn Marion, Jason
Kidd and Jason Terry. Spearheading their attack was the German giant Dirk Nowitzki, whose inspiring play in the end proved just too much for Miami,
"When it came down to it in the fourth quarter, when it came down to making plays, when it came to continuity, they had it," Wade said of the Mavericks. He then confirmed that he was already looking forward to next season, when
hopefully Miami will improve and overcome the final hurdle towards an NBA World Championship. "Our only job is to come back as better individual players and as a team. Learn from the highs. Learn from the lows."
After the Finals, and even when the series was going on, the Heat faced severe criticism from the NBA fans and media alike. The Heat were ridiculed for not living up to their billing and failing to perform in the face of a determined
veteran opponent.
The wider animosity towards Miami stemmed from LeBron James arrival in South Beach and the perception that the Heat were an arrogant bunch. Since Dallas was made up of likeable players coming towards the end of their NBA careers,
the public sentiment invariably turned towards them.
Miami, and particularly LeBron, therefore had to bear the brunt of the worst vitriol in and after the NBA Finals. Wade has already stated that the negativity doesn’t really affect him too much. He accepted that there will be fingers
pointed towards Miami again when the season starts, but expressed hope that the degree of hate would be much less than it was last season,
"It's always going to be criticism. There's always going to be hatred. … It's like the first time LeBron went to Cleveland, it was this crazed thing," Wade says. "Then we went back again, and it wasn't the same.
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