It’s not vintage, says Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade, it’s who he is now.
Dwyane Wade is playing some of the best basketball he’s played in years. He fired his trainer, got a new one, looks slimmer and is looking healthy. He’s only missed a handful of games this season, isn’t resting on back-to-backs and is finishing fourth quarters strong.
Related Story: Wade scores 27 to lift Heat in win vs Nets
A lot of highlighters and sportscasters are calling him “vintage.” “That looked like 2006 Dwyane Wade” some will say, in one way or another.
These flashes or great play aren’t flashes. No. Wade, who was voted in as a starter to the All Star game, has been playing like this all season long.
Wade wants everyone to know it, too. Via the Sun Sentinel:
"This is me. As I said earlier in the season, this is me playing healthy. No one’s 100 percent after the season, not at this time, but I can do some of the things I want to on the court. Every time I do something—it might be a free throw—it’s vintage nowadays. But this is just who I am in this 2015-2016 season. It’s not every night."
Wade has played in 43 of Miami’s 46 games. He’s averaging 18.7 points, 4.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds in 30.2 minutes per game. He’s scored 20 or more points in 22 games already. He’s closing games for Miami. He’s leading this team and he’s doing it with new-found energy and his bag of tricks.
Like he says, this isn’t vintage. It’s the current rendition. That bag of tricks holds a lot more moves than it did for “vintage Wade.” Early in Wade’s career, he got to the rim by driving with supreme athleticism. He got to the line, adding points to his stat line with oodles of free throws. He was unstoppable.
Now, Wade relies less on raw athleticism (he’s healthy, but he’s still 34) and more on the moves he’s learned and developed over the years. A step back jumper, turnaround floater, jab step in the post, spin move along the baseline… Wade can go to all of these things and more at any moment. It makes defenders’ lives difficult, never knowing just which stop Wade is going to pull.
More heat: 3 reasons it's time to move on from Hassan Whiteside
Wade will have his nights when he struggles. But so does everyone in an 82 game season. He won’t–and shouldn’t–carry the team every night, but this is Wade. Not vintage.