NBA Looming Legacies, Part 3: Dwyane Wade

Dwayne Wade has been a busy man over these past 12 months. It all began with his recruitment of LeBron James and Chris Bosh who joined him in South Beach (Side note: “Taking my talents to South Beach” will forever be the greatest metaphor for oral sex, ever!)

The whole entire world was consumed with James and “The Decision.” The hype machine ran rampant and the focus centered solely on the ring-less king and his unprecedented choice.

The public, including myself, is enamored with James. He is the constant draw, the center of attention and the one under the most scrutiny.

However, the fans and media in this scenario continually overlook Dwyane Wade, despite the fact that he is the only one with a championship (not to mention, a Finals MVP award). And, if you think about it, he really came out as the biggest winner after this whole summer fiasco.

As a genius fan pointed out in an email to ESPN's Bill Simmons shortly after “The Decision,” Wade pulled off a major coup that will benefit his own career and has not detracted from his own reputation as a basketball player.

“Years of College

LeBron James: 0

Chris Bosh: 1

Dwyane Wade: 3

Wade convinced his dumber friends to play for his team, in his city, for less money.”

While funny and amusing, it’s also true.

As we saw during these playoffs, this is still Dwyane Wade’s team. Before his hip injury and Dirk going all “F*ck it, I got this,” Wade was well on his way to yet another Finals MVP award.

Even after the minor injury slowed him down, Wade still played with passion and went down swinging a la Katsumoto and “The Last Samurai” style. The same cannot be said for James, who looked overwhelmed by the moment.

We saw Wade’s leadership when he chewed James out for a full eight seconds in Game 3 after his teammate made a poor decision.

I’ve never seen anyone on the team yell at Kobe Bryant. Never caught a fellow player chewing out Tim Duncan. Wouldn’t believe it if someone told me Steve Nash was being bombarded by teammates’ remarks.

It is true that losing the championship when your team is better on paper hurts Wade’s legacy at this current juncture. But the Miami Heat haven’t even reached their full potential as a team and yet still made it within two games (including one epic collapse) of a title. The majority of the blame for this loss does not sit with Dwayne Wade.

Wade still found a way to contribute to victories even though his shots were failing to fall against the Chicago Bulls during the Conference Finals (easily his worst series of the playoffs).

Wade averaged 6.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks (as a 6-4 guard, mind you) to combine with some nasty defense to help the Heat advance. Even when he’s not pouring in the points, the seven-year vet finds a way to make plays.

For the Finals, Wade averaged 26.5 points, 1.5 steals, 1.5 blocks, 5.2 assists and 7 rebounds all on an efficient 54% from the field. Obviously, it wasn’t enough but no one can say that he did not show up to play.

Perhaps Wade’s biggest saving grace is that his performance is being compared and overshadowed by James’.

Regardless, there is still time left for this squad to achieve vindication for their highly controversial moves. The day that happens, the main thing we’ll conclude is that Wade will now have 8 naked fingers instead of 9. And, in the sport of basketball, that is the only thing that matters: winning.

Wade saw a golden opportunity to extend his career and potentially add hardware to his trophy case. In the process, he maintained his status as a leader of this team and a face of the franchise.

The fact that the Heat lost and the only person we’re talking about is LeBron says to me that Dwyane Wade’s legacy is going to be just fine when all is said done.

If you missed NBA Looming Legacies Part One on Dirk Nowitzki, you can check it out here-- http://bleacherreport.com/articles/733518-the-looming-legacies-part-one-lebron-james-and-dirk-nowitzki

If you missed NBA Looming Legacies Part Two on LeBron James, you check it out here-- http://bleacherreport.com/articles/733885-nba-looming-legacies-part-two-lebron-james-and-dirk-nowitzki

If you agreed with or absolutely hated anything I said here, let me know in the comments section.