Dwyane Wade on LeBron Leaving: ‘There’s No Hangover’
By Wes Goldberg
How the team reacts to LeBron James’ departure will be the dominating storyline for the Miami Heat this season. During the team’s media day Friday, Dwyane Wade said the team isn’t looking at it that way.
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Via the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson:
"“There’s no hangover. Everyone in the organization has had time to get used to the idea it’s going to be a different team…. We can’t replace LeBron. We’re a different team. Everybody’s opportunities [and] responsibilities will be different.”“Obviously I’ll have the ball in my hands a little more. I have always been a playmaker for this team. I will continue to do that. I’ve always been someone who’s scored the ball at a high rate. And I will always try to do that. I’m not coming in looking like I have to do anything that LeBron did, that I have to do anything that I did before the Big Three…. I’ve always been a leader in this organization. That doesn’t change.”"
Earlier in the offseason, Wade said he wants to play at least 75 games this season. He’s been dieting and running on zero gravity treadmills to get his body right. He told reporters he lost weight but “losing weight doesn’t do anything” and “you have to put on the right muscle as well.”
Wade is used to having the ball in his hands and that doesn’t change just because he became the second option the last three or four years (you could debate that he was the second option in the first season of the Big Three Era since he actually had a higher usage rate in 2010-11 than LeBron, according to basketball-reference.com).
Now it seems Bosh will be the No. 1 option, according to comments by the team and speculation by the media and blogosphere. I mean, it just makes sense. Bosh is healthy and in his prime and Wade is, well, not.
I don’t like to look at it that way, necessarily. The offense will run through Bosh, but Wade will have an opportunity to handle the ball and score as much as he wants. Both Bosh and Wade are looking forward to having the ball more, it will be fun to watch both of them work.