Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade: I took a backseat to LeBron James – NBA Playoffs Update
Dwyane Wade has revealed how he decided to take a back seat to super star teammate LeBron James at the Miami Heat. Wade himself is one of the brightest stars in the NBA, with an NBA World Championship and a NBA Finals MVP award to boast, the two awards that
LeBron doesn’t have.
Still, Wade has made a conscious decision to let LeBron James take charge of the franchise and the team from the front. What made him make that decision the time he was out injured early in the season.
When LeBron and Wade first paired up in the 2010 – 2011 NBA season, the two of them continued to play as they had been playing throughout their respective careers. They were both aggressive, they were both dominant, they didn’t really adjust to new roles.
The idea was to take turns running the show, and it worked for the most part. It was though clear that something still was a miss, and the lack of a clear leader of the pack hurt Miami in the NBA Finals, when the Dallas Mavericks beat them in 6 games.
"LeBron is probably the most talented player we've seen in a while, but how good can we be? Are we going to be good if me and him are both scoring 27 a night? Yeah, we're gonna be good, but it would be too much, 'OK, it's your turn, now it's your turn.'”
Wade said in an interview with ESPN.
Then when Wade got injured this season, he saw from the sidelines just how dominant LeBron James really could be, how he could run things for the entire team and how he could take charge in key situations.
That’s when it sank in for Dwyane. He realized that he was fighting for a cause greater than just top billing on the team. That is what helped him make the decision.
"I just had some time to sit back and think a lot," Wade said. "I just realized what we're playing for, and what I'm playing for.”
After that he knew what needed to be done. In order to reap the maximum rewards for the Heat, LeBron James didn’t need to be controlled, he needed to be unleashed. So that’s what Dwyane did.
"I wanted to give him the opportunity where he didn't have to think about that. It's kind of like I told him, 'Listen, I'll find my way. Don't worry about me.”
The Heat are looking strong at the moment with the new setup, and are favourites to win their current Eastern Conference playoffs series against the Indiana Pacers, and indeed to at least make it to the NBA Finals.
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