Dwyane Wade Apologizes to Kobe Bryant About Nose-Fracturing Foul

According to NBA.com, Dwyane Wade has offered an apology to Kobe Bryant for the foul that fractured his nose during the NBA All-Star game.

While Wade and his teammates continue to say that the foul was not intended to harm, Wade has let it be known that he doesn't care what the media may think of him:

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"I don't care what I'm portrayed as," Wade said after Miami's first practice following the league's All-Star break. "It's unfortunate, obviously. I don't want to ever hurt anybody in this game, especially on a freak play like that. It's unfortunate. I send my apologies. But it's not intentional. If it's something I did intentionally, it'd be a different story."

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Wade's teammate, Chris Bosh, echoed the sentiment.

According to Bosh, "it was all about the game."

Bosh believes that when games get heated, plays like that are bound to happen. It's hard to disagree with him, especially as the Eastern Conference nearly rallied back from a major deficit in the fiery exhibition game.

Bosh wasn't the only member of the Heat to have an opinion. According to head coach Erik Spoelstra, he doesn't need to see the play to know the criticism is wrong. Spoelstra simply believes that it's yet another "extreme exaggeration" about his team.

As for Wade, the calm approach isn't the one he's decided to take. It seems as if his frustrations from the Eastern Conference's loss have continued to boil over to his interviews. Wade continued his response by stating:

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"When I saw the blood in his nose, I was like, `Obviously, I wasn't trying to do that, man,"' Wade said. "I don't know if anybody wants me to get down on my knees in front of the world and do it. I don't have to do that. ... I send my apologies to Kobe and I move on from it."

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While no one has ever criticized Wade of being a dirty player, it's clear that he's not concerned with the possibility of the label. Wade and Kobe both know that the play was clean.

When the two collide next Sunday, the only thing to talk about will be their production.