Dwyane Wade Ready To Return?
During the Big Three era, the Miami Heat did not need to panic when it came to Dwyane Wade’s on-again, off-again injuries. Having Wade in the game certainly helped, but with the remaining two-thirds of Run DLC (LeBron James and Chris Bosh) ready to pick up most of the slack, and the rest of the squad healthy, the Heat were a-ok. Obviously, things have changed.
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Unfortunately for the NBA superstar, gone are the days when he could fully recover, before coming back into the lineup. Now, Wade has to rush the process.
"“I don’t like missing time, because it takes time to get back to that rhythm again,” Wade told the Sun Sentinel. “Even though the games will come fast, the good thing about [being out] was our team was able to finish off the road trip and get a win.”"
Out for the past two matchups with what was labeled a strained hamstring, Wade is set to return to Miami’s lineup on Tuesday, when they will take on the Oklahoma City Thunder.
This is not Wade’s first run-in with a hamstring injury (although he said on Monday that it felt more like a pulled muscle), but thankfully, this situation is not as serious as those of the past.
"“I knew it wasn’t as bad,” explained Wade. “You still got to be smart. I’m glad I was able to get out there with the guys and not have any pain. [Tuesday] is the big day to see if I can continue to keep moving forward. I felt ok [in practice]. I’ll see how I feel [Tuesday]. I don’t know. I’m going to wake up, see how I feel, come in and get some work and go from there.”"
Wade missed 28 games last year, some of which were merely to help keep up his health and save some energy for the postseason. But this season, with 10 absences under his belt already, the Heat need him on a nightly basis.
"“We’d rather him play and he would rather play,” said head coach Erik Spoelstra. “He felt things were starting to turn the corner, not only for himself but the team. I think he’s better off right now than he was the previous time.”"
Only time will tell if Wade is really ready to rejoin his team as they work towards a better second-half of the season. But for now, it seems as though things are as good as they can be.