Thursday, June 9, 2011

Wade's Legacy (Not LeBron's) Riding on 2011 Finals

       For the past year, LeBron James has been the most scrutinized athlete in the history of sports. His ignominious, excessively public departure from Cleveland, coupled with the 24/7/365 nature of today's media coverage, resulted in the sports world directing its collective ire towards "The Chosen One" and his Miami Heat for the past eleven months. James' lack of late-game heroics (particularly in Game 4, when James attempted only one shot in the 4th quarter of a three-point Heat loss) in these Finals has been magnified by the precarious position that Miami finds itself in, tied 2-2 entering Thursday night's Game 5. The story dominating tonight's pre-game coverage claims that this single, forty-eight minute contest will define LeBron's eight-year career. It's questionable, however, whether it's fair (or even intelligent) to judge a person's legacy halfway through what is likely to be a long, illustrious, championship-laden career. The overlooked, more pertinent story focuses on the legacy of LeBron's superstar teammate, 2006 Finals MVP Dwyane Wade.

       Dwyane Wade, not LeBron James, may have the most to gain from a Heat championship in 2011. Wade has been here before, as the then-up-and-coming 24-year-old shooting guard of the 2006 Heat. Considered an exuberant right hand man to the team's established superstar, Shaquille O'Neal, Wade formally announced his arrival as a dominant force during the 2006 Finals, against this same Dallas Mavericks squad. In that series, Wade put up a staggering 34.7 points per game (O'Neal averaged just 13.7) en route to leading Miami to its' first ever NBA championship. Due to a series of injuries and the team's losing record in the seasons following, Wade disappeared from the national radar as quickly as he had arrived. Wade was still considered one of the game's best players, but the public eye had shifted elsewhere and would not return until LeBron James brought it with him in the summer of 2010. Now, Wade is back in the Finals and reminding basketball fans everywhere that he belongs in the same echelon of NBA royalty that he entered back in 2006. Through the first four games of the 2011 Finals, Wade has averaged 30 ppg, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. While James has struggled throughout the series, Wade has consistently delivered the type of excellence expected of his more celebrated teammate. If Wade continues to shine, and the Heat find a way to win the 2011 title, it will be Wade's legacy (not LeBron's) that receives the biggest bump. Wade will have led a still-dominant Shaquille O'Neal and a 26-years-old and in-his-prime LeBron James to separate championships in a five-year span.
      
       Unlike James (who is just 26 and presumably has many years of dominance left in his tank), Wade may not have many more opportunities left like the one he currently finds himself in. Wade is an old 29, with the wear-and-tear of multiple surgeries and having to carry previous Heat teams on his back beginning to show. Wade is still elite, but how long he will remain so is unknown. This may be Wade's last shot at being the "alpha dog" on these Heat teams. James and Chris Bosh (also 26) are three years Wade's junior, and both are likely to take on a bigger scoring load as Wade fights off the aging process that inevitably accompanies Father Time. For now, though, Miami's best shot at a second title rests on the battle-tested shoulders of the man who led the Heat to its' first crown. And while the public may perceive James as the member of Miami's "Big Three" with the most to lose if Miami should falter, the less-heralded (and, recently, more productive) Wade has the most to gain from a Heat triumph. When it comes to Wade cementing his legacy as one of basketball's premier clutch performers, the words of a James' early-Thursday tweet sum it up best: Now or Never.

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