Wade is the main reason for the renaissance of the Miami Heat and the NBA
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by user DRE-LO
All the fuss in the days leading up to Dwyane Wade's draft year was about Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony. After all, Lebron was projected to go #1 since the moment ESPN did one of his high-school games. Carmelo Anthony led Syracuse to a national championship in his freshman year. Thus, the fuss was deemed necessary. But at the end of the day, Dwyane Wade will reach the NBA finals before Lebron, Carmelo and the talented top picks in that infamous draft. When Kobe and Shaq led the Lakers to three NBA championships, there was and still is debate about who was most responsible for their dynasty.
This time, there is no debate. If you don't believe me, ask Shaq. When Shaquille O'Neal rolled into Miami on a big pickup truck with thousands of screaming fans, he declared two things: an NBA Championship and the fact that this is Dwyane Wade's team.
Debate over.
Just missing Lebron and Carmelo in the lottery may ironically turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to this franchise. While Lebron fell short of the playoffs due to a lack of support around him and Carmelo's Nuggets were done in by Minnesota in their first season, Dwyane Wade and Stan Van Gundy took the Heat to a 42-40 record and the second round. His offensive skills are unlimited and unquestioned, but he is a two-way player. Ask Rip Hamilton. This breakout season by the Heat after two straight losing seasons of 36-46 and 25-57 eventually led Shaq to his decision of signing with the Heat for another run at a championship.www.databasebaketball.com It's quite possible that the Heat could have been in the finals last year had Shaq and Wade been 100%. Stan Van Gundy should get a lot of credit for helping turn this franchise around as well before going "on leave" {He was forced out, come on.} In spite of what Pat Riley did, he may turn out to be the real genius. The signing of Jason Williams, Antoine Walker and Gary Payton were questioned throughout the season as they seemed to lose sight of the fact that they were role players. Now they have embraced that role at the right time, and it has shown in their vast improvement during this run. Jason Williams played the best game of his life in the biggest game of his life. Let's not forget Udonis Haslem's weakside rebounding nor Posey's intense defense nor Mourning's presence in the paint.
However, it was Wade who brought the franchise out of the basement and into the twilight of being 4 games away from the NBA championship. With Lebron and Carmelo being the main "creme de la creme" in that draft, I had the feeling that we were on the brink of a renaissance in the NBA.
With Wade, the renaissance is offically here.
Date
Sat 06/03/06, 10:33 am EST
