Dwyane Wade Taking a Step Back for LeBron James Will Bring Miami Heat a Title

Dwyane Wade is a genius.

Publicly, Wade recently admitted that he has decided to play second fiddle to LeBron James, telling ESPN’s Israel Gutierrez that it was one of the toughest choices he has made:

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It was probably one of the hardest things I had to do in sports was to, in a sense, take a step back. A lot of people don’t understand. They’ll say, ‘Why would you do that?’ To me, I want more success from winning. I don’t want another scoring title. I’m just trying to win.

I felt that it had to come from nobody but me, to say, ‘Go ahead, man. You’re the best player in the world. We’ll follow your lead.’ Once I said that, I thought he kind of exhaled a little bit.

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Brilliant.

Wade said he made the decision back in January when he was nursing an injury, and it certainly paid off instantly. He built up LeBron’s confidence and allowed James to put up jaw-dropping numbers (27.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 6.2 apg, 1.9 spg) and hoist his third MVP in four seasons.

That gave LeBron reassurance he is a great player despite all of the booing and hatred he has received since “taking his talents to South Beach.”

This is the most important aspect for the 27-year-old James at this point: his mental state. There is no doubt he has all of the physical tools to destroy the league for years to come, but mentally he had deteriorated before our eyes since the infamous snub on the handshake after the Orlando Magic bounced his Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2009 Eastern Conference finals.

Since then, he has produced two awful postseason endings, and it destroyed him inside. Only Wade could give him the reassurance that he’s just fine, and reaffirm he’s “the King” of the NBA.

But we all know this is still Wade’s team.

Look no further than the waning moments of Game 4 of the first-round series against the New York Knicks. James was carving up the D, getting whatever he wanted, yet it was Wade who had the ball in isolation with the game hanging in balance.

That’s the true indicator of whose team it is. The coaching staff and the rest of the team trust Wade with the game on the line more so than LeBron because of their previous histories.

So let Wade tell the media he has let LeBron take the reins. Let that explain why Wade’s numbers are down in the regular season and early in the playoffs.

Wade and LeBron entered the league at the same time, but there is no doubt “Flash” acts like the more mature player. He gets playing the games with the media and always says the right things.

Why do you think he is quite possibly the least criticized player in the entire league? Why weren’t people more upset with the architect of the "Big Three" instead of the guys that merely thought it was a good idea?

His media savvy is going to really help this team on the floor as well. Let LeBron play 45 minutes of ball thinking he can do no wrong. Let him get all the cheers and glory.

But once the game is on the line…it is Wade time.

This is the formula for success in Miami, and, with a watered-down Eastern Conference and a wide open Western Conference, this brilliant strategic decision by Wade can be what gets them not only to the NBA Finals again, but win it this time, with or without Chris Bosh.

LeBron can win the Finals MVP—so long as Wade is the closer. 

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