B/R Exclusive Interview: Does Dwyane Wade Expect Four Heat Titles in Six Years?
There is a famous Spanish proverb that states, "the darkest hour is just before dawn."
As he sits back in a chair for our exclusive interview, you view a man who is finally starting to see a ray of light on the horizon.
A bittersweet summer has come and gone for Dwyane Wade.
During the last few months he has been in and out of court for various legal proceedings. To say he has endured a hectic and wrenching offseason would be an understatement. Wade has had to battle for his kids and his reputation, all the while trying to keep up with the many demands placed upon him for being who he is.
Usually a person looks forward to the end of their workday or workweek. They count the minutes until they can say they're on vacation. Well for Wade, it's quite the opposite. This is a man who can't wait to get back to work.
For it is there, on an NBA court, where all the worries and burdens this summer has brought will soon be wiped away like the sweat off his brow. The sooner he has a basketball uniform on instead of a business suit, the better.
Wade couldn't partake in the FIBA World Championships because of all the pressing matters he had to tend to. This is something that pains him, because he takes great pride in wearing the Team USA jersey.
For Wade, there is no grander stage or bigger thrill than playing for his country.
"The biggest stage is the Olympics or when [you're] playing for your country, hands down," Wade said in an exclusive interview with Bleacher Report on Friday in Chicago, where Wade was coaching in a game for Gatorade's REPLAY series. "In the NBA you're playing for your respective team and your community, but when you're playing for [Team USA] you're playing for everyone in your country. It's the world's game, and it means everything to have USA across your jersey."
Despite missing out on Team USA's triumphant run through the world championships, Wade has a lot to look forward to. This offseason Pat Riley and the Miami Heat managed to capitalize on the free agency period like no other team ever has before by luring LeBron James and Chris Bosh to join Wade in South Florida.
Much has been made about whether this new star-studded lineup could manage to co-exist on the same team. There have been the countless dumb cliche's about "Alpha Dogs" and how Wade and James both need the ball in their hands at all times.
There was even one report in the Miami Herald on July 7 that stated people in Wade's camp indicated he didn't really want James to come to Miami. When we asked if there was any truth to that report, Wade quickly replied, "No, plain and simple."
Wade's athleticism is matched by his intellect. Every answer he gave during our interview seemed to be well thought out and enlightened.
For example, when asked what his favorite movie starring girlfriend Gabrielle Union was, Wade smiled and smartly said, "All of 'em."
This is a guy who sees the big picture. He glides through what to say and what to do at all times.
He also fully understands that thanks to this summer, he and his new teammates in Miami are on the verge of being part of something special.
Wade doesn't care for the individual accolades as much as fans and those in the press do. He's got an NBA Finals MVP, a league scoring title, and an All-Star MVP award to boot. Still none of that compares with the allure and shine of seeing his reflection on the Larry O'Brien trophy again.
Plain and simple, Wade loves to win. It's what he wants more than anything else when it comes to basketball.
When asked to look back on his career up to this point of his life and give what he feels is his best moment on a basketball court, between tearing down the nets to reach the Final Four in 2003, winning the NBA Finals in 2006, or being a part of an Olympic gold medal team in 2008, Wade stopped for a second and took a deep breath.
"That's tough. They're all special moments in my life," Wade said. "If I had to pick one I'd say the 2006 championship. That was my first championship that I really won on a big level.
"I got to the Final Four, but [we] didn't win it. I won a couple conference championships, but it isn't the same as winning it all. So the '06 Finals was my best moment, and then the Olympics came after that and [it] was very special of course, but '06 would be it."
Now the challenge for him is what it will take to get back to that mountain top. What can he do to guide Miami to another NBA Finals?
The pieces have been put together for that to occur. Thanks to all the assembling, all the wheeling and dealing, Miami is poised to be a title contender for years to come.
"One thing I know for sure is I expect to be able to compete for a title during the next six years," Wade said. "I don't know if we're gonna win them, no one knows until they're hoisting that trophy. But I do expect us to compete for them. Pat did what he needed to help get us to a Finals, now we have to go out there and take care of the rest."
This led us to our next question on whether Pat Riley ever mentioned to him this offseason that he was contemplating a return to coaching.
"It really wasn't brought up," Wade said. "We had a focal point this summer and that was to build a team we thought we wanted. I know that [rumor] was out there all the time, but it never came past my email or my phone."
While his input was sought throughout the free-agency period, Wade was never approached regarding the possibility of Shaq rejoining the organization.
"That wasn't my call, and it's something that was never [brought] up to me," Wade said.
Wade has now set his sights on the upcoming season and dethroning the champion Los Angeles Lakers, a team which Miami would have swept last season, despite an inferior line up, if not for a Kobe Bryant buzzer beater at the Staples Center.
A buzzer beater which Wade said was "one of the luckiest shots" he's ever been a part of.
Despite feeling reinvigorated because of this summer's additions and confident in the roster that will be taking the court with him next season, Wade wouldn't make as bold a prediction as James did during the Miami Heat's introduction ceremony when it came to how many titles the Heat would win in the next six seasons.
"I wish I knew that, but I'm not 'Bron [and] I'm not going to say five, six, seven," Wade responded as he nonchalantly, without looking, extended four digits and silently counted them off one by one as he finished his sentence. (See top picture for this image)
Take Wade's dexterous response as you may, but there was a subliminal signal indicating he expects at least four titles in the next six years.
If that is indeed the case and it does come into fruition, then the NBA had best be prepared for a Miami Heat dynasty, which Wade helped to create and will certainly help to lead.
