Dwyane Wade: Miami Heat Will Win the NBA Title If He, Not LeBron James, Leads the Way
Even before LeBron James and Chris Bosh arrived in Miami, Dwyane Wade wasn't receiving the attention he deserved. He had came out of the same 2003 draft and already had an accomplishment that each of those players could only dream of then: winning an NBA title.
James had come close a few times with an appearance in 2007 and the NBA's top regular season record in back-to-back seasons, while Bosh never even got past the second round.
Dwyane Wade however had already been to two Eastern Conference finals and played with some of the NBA's greatest players.
He received all the credit as a great team player when he became the immediate leader of the Heat during the postseason in his rookie year and he even got recognized as a fantastic individual player when he led his team back from the dead in the 2006 Finals.
Those four wins that he led the Heat to are regarded as some of the best displays of pure talent ever seen in an NBA finals before.
Then injuries started to pile up and it seemed that Wade's career could be over. His Heat team was swept in the first round of the post season the next year with Dwyane clearly hurting for nearly the entirety of the season.
He would only play 51 games the next year as his team finished with the worst record in the NBA and critics began to come out and claim that Dwyane's best years were behind him. That was until the 2008 Olympics when he came off the bench to outshine Kobe Bryant and LeBron James and lead the United States to a Gold Medal.
Miami Heat fans, and NBA fans in general, are glad to see that Wade brought that game back to the States.
Since then he has had to deal with the harsh reality of being on an average team. It was the classic big fish in a small pond deal as he led some of the ugliest rosters ever assembled to the postseason in back to back seasons.
The second best player on those teams was essentially Michael Beasley and the team rarely let him finish games. Wade was a clear-cut MVP candidate as he led those teams to 43 and 47 wins while also winning a scoring title in one of those years.
So should we be surprised now that on a team with LeBron James and Chris Bosh that Wade is still the big fish?
Coming into this 2010-'11 season, it was widely believed that the Heat would become LeBron's team no matter what Wade would try to do. He was regarded as the better player and he was the most coveted player of the summer free agency period.
Teams like the New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets barely gave Wade a passing glance compared to LeBron who had celebrity videos and front page articles on the New York Times in an attempt to convince him to play for their team.
Everyone except the majority of the city of Miami believed that in order for this experiment to be a success, that not only did each of these three have to keep their ego's in check, but that Dwyane had to step aside and allow LeBron to take the reins.
There certainly was a case for this since James is one of the most athletic players to ever play the game of organized basketball and wasn't too bad at it either. It wasn't too widely believed that the two-time reigning MVP should reduce himself to the role as sidekick.
The team has faced obstacles and has had to deal with the constant criticism and the watchful eye of the mainstream media, but even with the rough start and the trying times, they are still 54-23 with a number two seed.
If not for a few set backs and injuries or the Chicago Bulls playing their best basketball in over a decade, Miami would have the number one seed and a much better record.
The core of James, Wade and Bosh has payed off with a large improvement from last season and is now earning the Heat some championship talk.
For a brief moment in early March though, that championship talk was put on the back burner in favor of criticism and rumours, as the team dropped five consecutive games against teams that they'd probably have to face in the postseason.
Not only that, but they were blowing mammoth leads as big as 24 points.
Pointing fingers was becoming just as prominent as it was in November with people wanting the head of Erik Spoelstra for his inability to lead the team and Chris Bosh for being too passive.
The Wade and James duo was looking more and more like two individuals rather than a dynamic duo.
That all came to an end one March 10th night.
Miami was coming off of another tough loss to Portland two nights before and had the Los Angeles Lakers on tap.
The Lakers came in on a lengthy winning streak and a taste for revenge since the Heat had come into their house and ran them out of their own building on Christmas Day by 16 points.
The game was heralded mostly for James' triple-double, but it was Wade's defense on Kobe Bryant that was the deciding factor.
Do you ever see when teams come to a point in the season where it's make or break? It's that moment where you can tell if the team and it's roster are legitimate contenders.
The last two minutes of the Heat and Lakers March 10th meeting was that point for Miami.
With the game on the line and running the risk of losing to yet another elite team, the ball found itself in the hands of a player who had recently become an after thought in the past two weeks.
Miami had tried to integrate LeBron James as the closer, but had not seen any success from it. He had missed a few game deciding buckets during that losing streak and wasn't helping out the Heat's chances of being considered a legitimate title contender.
After all, he was the leader of this team and the player that was supposed to lead this team to improbable victories. He had done it before, but he wasn't showing up when the team needed him most.
So was it any coincidence that the Heat happened to beat the best closer and the hottest team in the NBA when the ball was in Dwyane Wade's hands? Perhaps it was the player that was only five years removed from winning a Finals MVP that was the real leader of this team.
Considering that he was besting one of the toughest defenders at his own game and then making the key defensive plays to win the game, it was obvious to see that the real leader of this team was Dwyane Wade.
He might not lead the Heat in any statistical categories, but Dwyane is the true leader of this team and it's not even close.
While some might consider James the best player in the league, Dwyane has the advantage of being able to create his shot easier than LeBron.
His speed and agility give him an advantage over nearly every defender in the NBA, while also being able to contain the power and finesse to finish shots.
Also, let's face facts: Dwyane Wade is better in the clutch than LeBron James. You can throw out all the stats you want, but when it comes down to it, it's Wade making the big plays on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.
From single-handedly beating the Dallas Mavericks to shocking the Chicago Bulls, Wade has been one of the best clutch players in the league since his rookie season.
While James is not one to scoff at late in games, Wade is the player on this team that needs the ball in his hands if they want to win.
With the postseason right around the corner, the organization needs to begin to recognize that Wade is the one that's going to lead the Miami Heat to a championship.
LeBron James is the most athletic player in the league and has the advantage of athleticism over any other player in the league, and he'll get you the points to give your team leads, but it's Dwyane Wade that's got to be the player to finish the job.
Time and again Wade has proven that this Miami Heat team is his. As much as people wanted to believe that this could be James' team, the Heat need to recognize that this is Wade's team if they want to win a championship.
He has the postseason experience, he has proved himself late in games at the biggest stage, and has played with some of the biggest names before.
If and when the Heat are in game seven of the NBA Finals with the game on the line, if they want to hoist a second banner, they'll allow Dwyane to do what he does best: win.
