Disappointed in Dwyane Wade

Denver — It's no secret that the Nuggets are a vastly deeper, more talented team than the Heat.

On this particular night, Carmelo Anthony and Co., buoyed by their home crowd, are effortlessly blocking shots, sharing the ball, running the break, and running the Heat out of Pepsi Arena. 

What about the Heat?

Well, what about them? Quentin Richardson bobbles a pass out of bounds. Arroyo tries to challenge Chris Anderson at the rim. Dorell Wright runs around with his head tucked in, accomplishing nothing.

To me, sounds like the pre-Gasol Lakers, with one difference—Wade is no Kobe Bryant. And this is not a knock on Wade's basketball ability, an area where no one in the league challenges Bryant. Rather, this is about his mental fortitude and will. 

Wade barely breaks a sweat in the first half, largely roaming around halfheartedly on the perimeter. There is nary a show of emotion, no sense of alarm as he watches a one point deficit increase to 20 in the span of five minutes.

He continues to walk the ball up the court. Perhaps he knows that he should save his energy, that this game is a lost cause, that his shot simply isn't falling, that he should save his legs for Friday night against the Lakers. All of this is rational thinking, indeed. 

With this philosophy, the Heat have close to a zero percent chance of winning the game.

The Nuggets energy goes down as well, as the game slowly drags on like a congressional hearing. Anthony isn't challenged, the crowd becomes sedated, and what is supposed to be the weekly marquee NBA matchup, NBA on TNT, becomes another yawner, soon to disappear into the statistician's archives. 

It wasn't like this with Bryant. He would have gunned for 40, if not 50, and gave his team at least a fighting chance. Oh, sure, more often than not, the Lakers lost during those pre-Gasol years, but they didn't go down without their ace's guns blazing. He once put up 47 shots and missed 10 threes in Boston—losing in overtime.

Having watched about 300 games during those years, I'd estimate that the Lakers chances of winning against a superior opponent, on the road, with Kobe going all out on offense, was about...20 percent. 

Well, 20 percent is better than 0 percent, which is the Heat's chances of winning tonight with their sleepwalking superstar. 

Oh, but remember the media during those gunslinger days?

"Ballhog!"

"Selfish!"

"Can't share the spotlight! Drove Shaq out of town!"

"Why won't he trust his teammates?"

Games like tonight show what would have happened if Bryant had trusted his teammates those years. He would have saved a lot of mileage on his legs, spared himself a lot of media hatred, and only lost a few more games—probably a good tradeoff to most people not named Kobe Bryant.

We won't hear anything negative about Wade after tonight. Rather, we see in the Heat what the Lakers would have been like had Kobe not fired all his rounds: hopeless, wretched, pathetic. The Lakers weren't a good ball-club, but no one said those words about them—not when their leader was 1st team all-defense, jawing at referees, and serving up baseline crunks.

Which team would you rather have represent your city?

And here is the difference between Wade and Bryant. Wade is selective about when to explode. With the 2005 championship within reach, he exploded, putting in a Jordan-like performance. With lost causes like tonight, he disappears, and I'll maintain that 99 percent of players would do the same.

But not Bryant. His 14-year career is a large enough sample size to show that he plays the same way every night. It doesn't matter if it's a pivotal road game in a playoff series or a meaningless regular season game, he's the same player.

When the Lakers were getting blown out of Game 5 at the Palace in the 2004 Finals, with the fourth quarter winding down, the rabid Piston fans already celebrating, and Shaq and Fisher on the sidelines, Bryant was still busting his ass on defense, chasing Hamilton around screens until the final buzzer sounded.

When he's made a few shots in a row, you can bet he's going to rise up on you next time down the court, just to see if he can't demoralize you.

League, we are still searching for someone worthy to take up the mantle once Bryant's career is finished.

It's the fourth quarter now. Wade has barely broken a sweat, and the lead has ballooned to 23. He gets hacked on a three-point shot, but the refs fail to call it, but Wade barely seems to care. His coach, frustrated to say the least, steps in and takes the technical. At least there's a heartbeat. A few minutes later, the lead increases even more, to 30, and Wade makes a quiet exit. 

Doug Collins comments that Wade didn't make an imprint on the game. 

He wouldn't say that if Bryant switched places with Wade.