HoopsHype.com Columns

Wade speeds to stardom
by Chris Ekstrand / May 14, 2005

It’s not true that Dwyane Wade is as fast as the speed of light. So when he takes the ball to the basket, he’s not traveling at 299,792,458 meters per second.

I’ve seen Dwayne Wade play. He’s no Michael Jordan.

Those are my criticisms. Nobody can say I didn’t write a fair and balanced piece about the status Dwyane Wade has attained in two shorts seasons in the NBA.

The rest of what you will read here belongs largely under the heading of effusive praise, with one bouquet after another tossed in the direction of the man Shaquille O’Neal dubbed “Flash.” Most of it won’t be opinion, however. The facts stack up quite nicely in asserting that Wade has been a revelation, if just short of a revolution.

Two years ago, Wade was going through individual workouts for NBA teams prior to the 2003 NBA Draft. At that time of year, workout opinions are held almost as closely as military secrets.

But something strange happened after Wade worked out for Miami, which had the fifth pick. Word spread around the NBA that Wade had wowed Pat Riley, Heat GM Randy Pfund and the rest of the team’s brain trust. His agility, quickness and balance were nearly as impressive as his demeanor, maturity and intelligence. Wade, a broadcast journalism major at Marquette, was also able to articulate his goals and understand his employer’s expectations.

Some thought at the time that the leakage from south Florida was an elaborate smoke screen employed by Miami, that the Heat really wanted Georgia Tech’s Chris Bosh, who ended up going to the Toronto Raptors with the fourth pick. The truth was the Heat did want Bosh.

“Not because he was better than Dwyane, but because he was bigger than Dwyane,” Riley told Greg Stoda of the Palm Beach Post. “We had Eddie Jones and Caron Butler, and we needed another guy to go with Lamar Odom.”

But when Toronto took Bosh, Miami was delighted to get Wade, who had earned 1st Team All-America status after his third season at Marquette. After Miami’s basketball people saw him some more, they became convinced Wade could play point guard, a position he had not played in college, and still score aplenty.

The rest is history. Wade quickly adapted to the demands of the lead guard position in the NBA. His quickness and acceleration with the basketball were off the charts, perfect for those situations every game when an NBA point guard finds himself at the top of the key with scant seconds left on the shot clock and he needs to make a play. Wade is too quick for any point guard to consistently defend one-on-one, and he’s much stronger than most of those who play the position.

“He drives and once he gets a step, the rest of it is muscle,” Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas told the Washington Times after Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. “He’s so athletic, but what helps him out is that he’s so strong. Once he goes and he spins, he’s spinning with power. You can’t just bounce him off his route. You’re bouncing off of him. He’s like a little tornado.”

This season, Wade increased his scoring average from a rookie mark of 16.2 ppg to 24.1 ppg, ninth-best in the NBA. He also improved his assist average to 6.8 apg, also ninth in the NBA. He was runner-up in the NBA Most Improved Player voting, was named All-Defensive 2nd Team and even finished eighth in the NBA Most Valuable Player voting.

Miami fans and some others around the NBA have grabbed onto those superlatives and are getting a little carried away with Wade’s meteoric rise. Some have dared to let their voices rise above a whisper when declaring the heresy that Wade might be better than LeBron James. It’s a credit to Wade that his rapid development has even caused the debate to exist.

But it’s important to keep in mind that while Wade has been presented in his second season with the ultimate gift, a Hall of Fame teammate still in the waning days of his prime in Shaquille O’Neal, James has been consigned to a franchise which lacks stability of any kind.

In the two years James has been on board, Cleveland allowed its third-best player, Carlos Boozer, to depart in free agency, changed ownership from the respected Gund brothers to the unknown quantity of Dan Gilbert, fired veteran coach Paul Silas and general manager Jim Paxson and is in position to lose second-best player Zydrunas Ilgauskas for nothing in free agency this summer.

James merely averaged 27.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 2.21 steals per game. He was third in the NBA in scoring, sixth in assists and third in steals. His statistical performance this season, taken in its entirety, puts him in a rarefied atmosphere visited by very few, chief among them Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan. While his team can only be described as being in disarray, James did not have the franchise stability, coaching guidance and talented teammates that Wade has. He has only a body that would cause Atlas to shrug in admiration, a skill level causing those who measure such things to revise their calculations on a daily basis, and a feel for the game that can only be described as divinely bestowed.

Wade is a star among stars, and has earned every honor he has received thus far. James, however, is something else, a savant above others but currently adrift in the desert, cursed by circumstances beyond his control.

The one thing that ties James and Wade together at this point early in their careers (besides their spectacular talents) has been their utter fearlessness. James took on the weight of enormous expectations and did the unthinkable: he exceeded them. Wade, who was not supposed to be a point guard and who only last year finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting, now has embraced his role as the leader of a team expected to contend for an NBA championship.

LeBron James is somewhere comfortable, yet uncomfortable, watching the NBA playoffs. We are left to watch Dwyane Wade elude defenders and soar to the rim. When Wade drives to the basket, imagine he is merely hurdling another unreasonable fan expectation or outlandish media projection. So far, he has cleared them all with plenty of room to spare.

Chris Ekstrand, former editor of the NBA Draft Guide, is a freelance writer based in Ohio and a regular contributor to HoopsHype.com

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