Dwyane Wade, Step Away from the Reporter

The media is out of control. The overreaction to Wade’s quasi 9/11 comparison quote is exactly what he was talking about.  

In an interview with fanhouse.com, Wade commented that the media will overreact to a couple of Heat losses like it was the 9/11 tragedy. To make it even worse, the site didn't even get the quote right when they first reported it. The actual quote is:

"We enjoy the bullseye. Plus, there's going to be times when we lose 2-3 games in a row, and it seems like the world has crashed down. You all are going to make it seem like the World Trade is coming down again, but it's not going to be nothing but a couple basketball games."

But the site actually reported that he said:

"If we lose a couple in a row this season, it will be like the World Trade (Center) is coming down again."

Hopefully that was a mistake and the reporter didn't do it on purpose.

When looking at the correct quote, what sparks the outrage? He basically said that it is just a game, but the media will treat it like a tragedy.

Years of watching ESPN and reading sports columns proves that his analogy is correct. If the Heat loses to the Bobcats in Miami, there will be hundreds of articles written addressing their problems. And if they follow it with another loss, more articles will follow (Oh no, the Heat are 21-2, the Miami sky is falling!).

So he's not factually incorrect, yet there's still outrage. The answer is the death of reading comprehension mixed with endless debate.  

Just because the words "game" and "World Trade" appear in the same sentence doesn’t make it offensive. Context is the key. And context along with facts are lost when something is relentlessly debated.

The worst culprit of fueling the flames of false outrage are sports panelist shows.  Three journalists sitting around for ten minutes agreeing Wade’s comments aren’t that big of a deal while one plays devil’s advocate to keep the debate going.

By talking about it for ten minutes on TV, they are making it a big deal (example: "hey, remember that 9/11 comment D-Wade made, that yesterday, I said wasn’t a big deal? I still don’t think its big deal if anybody was wondering.").

There are going to be plenty of reasons to hate Dwyane Wade and the Heat next season, but shoehorning a 9/11 controversy into the situation is not one of them. And trying to make it into a controversy when there isn't one is worse than what Wade actually said. 

Sure, Wade probably shouldn't have made the reference. Not because it was wrong, but because he obviously knows, per the quote, that the media tends to overreact.