Miami Heat: LeBron James or Dwyane Wade – Who is the leader of the pack? NBA Feature (Part-2)
If it was LeBron James who marshalled the Heat against arch foes Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and Finals, it was the brilliance of Wade that carried Heat to as far as they went in the NBA
Finals.
James was totally closed down in the series against the Dallas Mavericks and he failed to come to terms with the well knitted zonal defense of the Mavs. This made him to take his shots from the perimeter which is a place James
has never been able to play well from. Jump shooting has simply never been his forte and the Mavs made sure that James realizes that.
With the most consistent offensive option of the Heat struggling, it was Wade who took over the responsibilities of bursting through the impeccable defense of the Mavs and boy did he do well. With James and Bosh putting up numbers
on the rebounds and the assists, Wade assumed the responsibility of the prima donna on the front court.
He was the main reason behind Heat making it a close affair in each of the first five games. In fact, on most occasions, the Heat led till late. What happened after that has now become an open secret.
It cannot be denied that Wade emerged as the leader of the Heat in the finals and proved again that he is someone that the team could count on, but that cannot under estimate the efforts of James.
Although one can argue thateat James is still not mature enough to possess strong leadership skills and lacks the ability to produce much in late game situations, it is a fact that it was his presence that smoothened Heat’s way
into the finals. No doubt, he needs more confidence to raise his game in the clutch, but it was not only him who failed in the Finals.
The whole Miami team failed. How can a team lose even when your ace player scores a triple double, otherwise?
The fact is that the Heat lost because it was their first year together. They certainly had their roles figured by the end of the campaign, but they certainly didn’t gel well enough to fend off a performance of the magnitude of
what Nowitzki put. The duo has learnt its lesson in hard way and so has Bosh and Erik Spoelstra, the Heat coach.
As far as the coach Erik Spoelstra is concerned, considering it was his first year, he did well and earned respect as a young coach of NBA. However, he would have been more innovative with the rotations when he witnessed James
imploding.
With little adjustment in the next season and few better rotations, the Heat can certainly win the holy grail of NBA in the next season. The key is to stick together and to remember that neither James nor Wade is bigger than the
team itself.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not represent Bettor.com’s editorial policy.
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