Dime is the premier basketball magazine, covering the NBA, NCAA, High School, Playground and International basketball - as well as sneakers, fashion and music.
Issue link: http://dimemagazine.epubxp.com/i/56522
Dwyane Wade wasn't even supposed to be here. Perhaps because it's been six long years since he led the Heat to the franchise's only NBA championship, winning Finals MVP as an exploding supernova. Or be- cause he's been one of the league's most in-demand corporate pitchmen since that championship. But the beginning of the D-Wade story has been almost forgotten: Unlike James, the most hyped-up high school basketball player of all time, and unlike Bosh, the near seven-foot prep phenom who was good enough to go one- and-done at Georgia Tech, Wade started as an underdog. Only three colleges recruited Wade at Richards High School in Oak Lawn, Ill. He sat out his freshman year at Marquette University as an academic non-qualifier. It wasn't until a breakout junior year that he showed the makings of an NBA star, and even after Miami selected him No. 5 in the 2003 NBA Draft – James went No. 1 to Cleveland and Bosh went No. 4 to Toronto – some doubted Wade's ability to thrive in the pros as a shorter two-guard without a consistent three-point stroke. Leading the Heat to a championship, and holding status (in the eyes of some) as a level better than LeBron, was somewhere between a surprise and an impossibility. So if any of Miami's Big Three had an excuse to temper expectations and cruise on his resume, it would be Wade. He is the one, after all, who already has a ring. He's the one who has already overachieved. But going into the 2011-12 season, Wade was front and center as the vocal leader of the Heat. And nobody is more invested in the success of this team than the player who has seen it grow from a lottery squad to a title contender, back to lottery and back to the top again. He's not talking (at least publicly) about winning six or seven titles. One more will do for now. snipers Mike Miller and James Jones. The best collection of three teammates in the NBA still needs a team to make it happen. They need the talent, obviously, but also the defense and the clutch shooting and the rebounding and the forced turnovers and the focused resolve when games are on the line. They need the keys to any NBA championship that cannot be bottled: chemistry and continuity. And they need a reason to get up every morning and work toward delivering the results that will ulti- mately weigh heavier than the hype. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh need more than each other to fulfill the promises made in the summer of 2010, which was the original goal of buying into the all-for-one concept. They need head coach Erik Spoelstra. They need point guards Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole. They need defensive shut- down specialist Shane Battier, big men Joel Anthony and Udonis Haslem, and wing Your job? Just watch, and between search- ing for a reason not to like the Miami Heat, at least try to realize what you're witness- ing. This is Jordan and Pippen remodeled, with a smoother Rodman on the side. This is Kobe and Shaq being friendly with each other; Earl Monroe, Clyde Frazier and Wil- lis Reed emerging from a human growth chamber. Should you spend all your time nitpicking and complaining about it, you're going to miss something special. "Being so close and coming up short, it kind of sparked something in me," Bosh told reporters after a December training camp session. "We have a short window of time to play this game, so I feel like I can play the best basketball of my life for the next six, seven, eight years. And that'll be it." 67