In a very interesting Q&A with NBA.com’s Sekou Smith, Dwyane Wade talked about evolving his game through injuries, The Heatles era and shifting from a pick-and-roll demon to a beast in the post. Here are some of the highlights.
Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade has come a long way from his days as The Flash, when he would go from the top of the key to on his back below the rim and a ball falling through the net. He’s gone through a 2006 Finals series that ranks among the greatest performances in NBA history, to plugging away with some very bad teams, to leading a team back into the playoffs with a young Michael Beasley as second-in-command, to forming a legendary Big Three with LeBron James and Chris Bosh.
Now the spotlight–caught on LeBron’s shoe like a piece of toilet paper–has shifted from Miami to Cleveland, and Dwyane enters the next phase of his career.
In an enlightening Q&A with NBA.com’s Sekou Smith, Dwyane talked about how he’s evolved throughout his career. I recommend reading the piece in full, but here are some of the highlights.
Wade was asked about Derrick Rose and how he has handles his injury issues. This is Wade on realizing when he realized he had to be more careful on the court.
"I don’t think it’s something that is on your mind until something serious happens. For me, when I had my shoulder surgery, that’s when I started thinking differently. A serious injury, a surgery shows you that none of this is promised to you. And that’s when it really sets in for you as a player. […]But at some point, you would hope that each individual comes through this game has a moment when they realize things have to be done differently. You don’t ever like to see guys you play with go through the struggles, on or off the court, there has to be a point when you slow down, recognize where you are in your career and make the necessary changes to do things in a way that allow you to be effective for whatever stage of your career you are in."
On the post-LeBracolyptic Heat.
"It has been interesting, this process, and there is that word that has been used and overused around here the past few years. But that’s the best word to describe it, really. It’s been a journey and for us it’s been a good change. But it’s still early. The frustrations haven’t set in yet. I don’t care who you are, when you go through a NBA season there are bound to be some frustrations and some adversity. And you don’t know what you have until you go through those things, deal with them and come out on the other side. It’s early still. Everything is still fresh. It’s good to have wins like we had in Dallas. But then it’s good to come back and have a tough home loss to Indiana is a bad one. It’s the ebb and flow of a season. But it’s different, especially for myself and Chris [Bosh], taking a new challenge that we haven’t really had the last four years, and making it work. […]Listen, we didn’t run from the spotlight or anything when we had it. We took everything that came with it and owned it. … One minute you can’t get out of the spotlight and the next it’s gone anyway."
On how his game has changed, from playing point guard his rookie year to this season, when he’s played primarily from the post.
"I came in as a point guard and now I’m a post-up player [still laughing] … I mean, I do pick and rolls now, but I came in as a point guard and we run most of our post-ups now for me. So you have to understand that the the game evolves, the world evolves, the world around you evolves."
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A lot of interesting stuff here. A LOT.
First, Wade talked about his left shoulder surgery in 2007. He had the surgery after the 2006-07 season in which he missed 31 games and led the Heat with 27.4 points per game. He came back to average 24.6 points per game in 2007-08.
He was fully recovered for the 2008-09 season, in which he averaged 30.2 points per game and was the scoring champion of the NBA. It was a couple of rough seasons, but Wade came back and had a year the cemented his status as one of the greatest shooting guards of all time–a legacy he’s only added to since.
On to his comments on life after LeBron. You probably caught it, but he said “it’s been a good change” in regards to this new era of the Heat. I’m sure he doesn’t mean it’s good not to have LeBron (at least he wouldn’t say that publicly) but the idea that he and his teammates can focus on bare-bones basketball must be refreshing.
His veteran mindset is most clear in this quote. He mentions the highs of the Dallas game and the lows of the Indiana game. He knows this team will encounter some bumps in the road that will be met with frustrations, luckily this team has the veteran presence of Wade to help navigate those choppy waters.
Finally, Wade’s flash back to playing point guard to talking about how the majority of post-ups are ran through him is one of the most interesting things of his career. Like he says, great players find a way to adjust throughout their careers and Wade’s done that as well as anyone in the NBA.
You look at guys like Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki and Wade is right there with them. He took a step back for four years and now he’s back to his Dwyane-typical usage rating in the 30’s (it’s 30.1 this season, the highest it’s been since the 2011-12 season).
Wade’s legacy will grow with age, when his highlights are shown and people forget about his constant arguing with refs that can be mind-numbingly frustrating. The way he has evolved is one of the success stories of the NBA, and this interview sheds some bright light on that process.