Dwyane Wade Says Idea Rudy Gay's Grizzlies Would've Beaten Heat is 'AI-Generated'
Former NBA forward Rudy Gay believes the 2012-13 Memphis Grizzlies could have beaten LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the eventual NBA champion Miami Heat in the NBA Finals had he not been traded to the Toronto Raptors midseason.
Wade got wind of those remarks, and he apparently finds the opinion so preposterous that he reached out to Gay and wondered if it was an "AI-generated quote."
Gay made his comments on the Out The Mud podcast, hosted by his ex-Grizzlies teammates Tony Allen and Zach Randolph (1:24:00 mark).
"With all due respect to [the 2012-13 Heat], they won a championship, but I don't think they could have beat us that year, bro. The year I got traded. I think that was the year, that was our year," Gay said.
That 2012-13 Heat squad beat San Antonio in a classic seven-game NBA Finals. The James-led Heat made the NBA Finals each year from 2011-2014, winning it all in 2012 and 2013.
In January 2013, the Grizzlies traded Gay to the Toronto Raptors in a three-team deal that also included the Detroit Pistons in what essentially amounted to a cost-cutting move despite the ex-UConn star's success in town. Memphis notably got Tayshaun Prince in the trade package.
The Grizzlies ended up going 56-26 and making the Western Conference Finals as a No. 5 seed, but they fell in a four-game sweep to the San Antonio Spurs.
The Grizzlies did crush the Heat 104-86 on Nov. 11, 2012, with Gay posting a great game (team-high 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists, four steals, two blocks). Miami beat Memphis 98-91 in March without Gay in the lineup.
Memphis went 29-13 with Gay that regular season and 27-13 without him. He was valuable in Memphis and Toronto overall, posting 18.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists that year.
Gay was a well-respected and loved member of that Grizzlies team. That much is abundantly clear based on Tony Allen's praise toward him during the podcast.
Prince, of course, also played a big part in that Grizzlies team's success when he came over via trade, starting in the regular season and playoffs.
We'll never know whether the Grizzlies could have made the NBA Finals and given the Heat a run for their money if Gay stayed aboard.
They did beat James and the Heat once, but whether they could have beaten them four times is a greater debate.
Getting past the Spurs to make the NBA Finals might have been the bigger problem. Overall, Memphis went 2-6 against San Antonio (including playoffs), and the Spurs didn't have Tim Duncan or Manu Ginobili in one of the regular-season victories. The other win was a tough 101-98 overtime thriller. The Grizzlies with Gay aboard went 1-2 vs. San Antonio.
At any rate, Wade certainly has a strong opinion about what would have happened in a hypothetical Grizzlies vs. Heat NBA Finals in 2013. Ultimately, he has an NBA championship ring for 2013 regardless, alongside ones from 2006 and 2012.
