Paperback
-
PICK UP IN STORECheck Availability at Nearby Stores
Available within 2 business hours
Related collections and offers
Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781629377520 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Triumph Books |
| Publication date: | 03/19/2019 |
| Pages: | 128 |
| Product dimensions: | 8.40(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.40(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Heat Rookie, Fans Rise to Occasion in Victory
By Dan Le Batard • April 19, 2004
Forget the screaming disc jockey, the gyrating dancers and the famous songs piped in over the giant arena speakers to create a canned and familiar noise.
Miami Heat infant Dwyane Wade, a dazzling mixture of jazz and funk, was alone at the center of the stage now, being asked to perform.
Go ahead, kid.
The spotlight is all yours.
Make some music that moves us.
When Wade finally came down after his last-second, winning shot, AmericanAirlines Arena rose up, and the resultant 81–79 Heat victory over New Orleans in the first game of the NBA playoffs Sunday night had a smiling Wade dancing right at the center of this bobbing, screaming, clapping celebration he helped create.
It was a pretty cool thing to feel at your core.
South Florida, moved.
Wade had dragged 20,000-plus people of various origins, backgrounds, and beliefs out onto that dance floor with him.
And isn't that how it is with the best performers?
At the height of their excellence, they can bring us up there with them, where we all get to sway together.
You know what the rookie Wade did as punctuation after making his game-winning shot over New Orleans' two All-Star players?
He took his right fist and began pounding his heart.
After Miami had overcome a 10-point deficit and blown an 11-point lead, it was hardly the only one in this building taking a pounding.
It has literally been years since we've had basketball games that mattered like this one in South Florida, Miami having spent the past two seasons teetering between irrelevant and laughable. And playoff basketball is particularly rugged, Miami's undersized players spending as much time on the floor Sunday as in flight. It isn't ballet this time of year as much as it is wrestling.
You would think that combination of tension and trauma might leave a team as young as this one rattled, especially when playing a New Orleans Hornets team littered with so many veterans that it isn't so much a basketball squad as it is a basketball museum.
But at the end of Sunday's game, Heat coach Stan Van Gundy placed the ball and the game in the impossibly large hands of his youngest player, who was also, it goes without saying, the youngest one on the floor.
The Hornets have things in their closet older than Wade. He was born in 1982. So here you go, kid. Hurry up and grow up, OK?
For a while there, with most Heat fans wearing giveaway black T-shirts, it felt like everyone was dressed appropriately for mourning. All that New Orleans experience had thundered back from a late double-digit deficit against a Miami team that appeared to be lost and tightening.
All that momentum Miami had built on a Wade dunk — the one after which he spread his arms wide, like a child playing airplane — had evaporated more quickly than a bad dieter's willpower.
The emotion and energy and vibrancy of youth? New Orleans looked like it was going to be able to withstand the Heat.
But then the ball was placed in Wade's hands at the top of the key, time ticking down, just Wade and New Orleans' best player isolated with every eye in the building on them.
Wade did not shrink from his moment.
He rose to meet it.
And allowed everyone in the building to take flight with him.
CHAPTER 2Dwyane Wade Pushes Fear, Mavericks Aside with Season on the Line
Wade Was Afraid But Never Doubted He Could Save Heat's Season
By Dan Le Batard • June 15, 2006
Were you afraid, Dwyane?
Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade lets the question sit there for a second and stares at you in silence.
Did you ask something stupid? Have you insulted him? Trying to recover, you stammer something about the season collapsing all around him. You replace the word "fear" with the word "doubt." He interrupts quickly this time, saying, "Not doubt. Never doubt. Never, ever doubt."
But then he stops.
Stops and goes back to your original question.
Goes back to being afraid.
"Yeah, you fear," Wade said of Tuesday's deficit against the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. "I was afraid. There's something wrong with you if you aren't afraid. The building was quiet. Our season was slipping. I was afraid."
The Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki was nervous in a Game 1 with few consequences, and he had one of his worst games of the playoffs. His teammates, Jason Terry especially, bailed him out. Wade was nervous in Game 3 with a season's worth of consequences, and all he does is save the season.
Down 13 points in a fourth quarter the Heat needed more than any it has ever played, the hero was straight-up scared. Isn't that what the philosophers say is the definition of courage? Not the absence of fear but the ability to overcome it?
Wade only overcame it with the single best playoff game a member of the Miami Heat has ever played. This is not open for discussion. No one has ever been bigger in a big moment for the Heat than Wade was in saving the Heat's season Tuesday.
It wasn't just his 42 points. It wasn't just his 13 rebounds. It wasn't just the 15 points he scored in a desperate fourth quarter on a bad knee and with lingering flu and five fouls.
It was every little thing he did. One turnover? One?! And how about what you don't see on the stat sheet. For example, Wade soared in to grab the rebound on Nowitzki's free-throw miss with three seconds left as Shaquille O'Neal sat and James Posey had trouble keeping Jerry Stackhouse away from a crushing tap-in. That rebound was Stackhouse's for the taking. He began the free-throw attempt behind Posey but ahead of Wade and moved Posey under the rim, into bad position. But Wade soared in and took the game from him.
"I'm pretty sore," he says after midnight Tuesday.
Wade has just finished postgame interviews at the podium, and he gets up with a grimace and a groan. It is how someone 60 years older than him might rise from a table. The grimace and groan will return a few minutes later, when he tries to drop himself gingerly into the back of a cart that will escort him back to the locker room. That's what he left on that court in saving Miami's season. Rising up to meet and surpass some of the world's greatest athletes at the height of sports has left him so spent that he needs a ride back, so beat up that he would be unable to practice Wednesday.
"I wasn't able to explode because of my knee," Wade says. "I could barely dunk."
There is a flammable rivalry in Wade's draft Class of 2003. Heat coach Pat Riley challenged Wade by looking around the locker room before a playoff game against the Detroit Pistons and telling Wade to make others witness him become the first crowned champion. Never mind that second pick Darko Milicic won one on the bench in Detroit. The use of "witness" was purposeful. It is the word around which the commercial campaign of No. 1 pick LeBron James of Cleveland revolves. Make LeBron witness, Dwyane.
Dallas Maverick Josh Howard is an exceptional, underrated player from that class, and he would like to elevate himself into the James-Wade discussion. Howard scored 21 points Tuesday, and Dallas had been 25–0 when he did that. But Howard scored zero in the fourth quarter while Wade was scoring 15. Howard, 2003 or no 2003, is not in Wade's class.
"You know what is weird?" Wade asks, limping between the podium and the cart. "My most confident point in the entire game was when we were down 13 points."
Huh?
You were scared but confident in the fourth quarter?
How can that be?
"Because I said to myself that I wasn't going out like this," he says. "I'm going out shooting. I'm going out fighting. I'm not going out like this. I'm going to soar. I've done it before in fourth quarters. We've done it before in fourth quarters. I was going to get the crowd back into it and feed off the energy. I'm telling you, I was most confident when we came out of that timeout."
Quite the flight, from sore to soar.
There's still a mountain to climb, of course. Dallas is begging Antoine Walker to shoot, and he is obliging much too much. Udonis Haslem, whose desire is overwhelming and inspirational, is being left open because he is wounded. And Dallas is up 2–1 in the series even though Nowitzki is capable of having the kind of game Wade just did but hasn't yet. Still, Miami has a mighty little weapon that fears but does not doubt.
Is this the highest emotional moment you've had in basketball, Dwyane?
Wade lets the question sit there for a second again, then laughs.
"Nah," he says. "My highest emotional moment hasn't happened yet."
Another laugh.
"Not yet.
CHAPTER 3Wade Has Heat a Win Away from Title with Huge Effort
By Israel Gutierrez • June 20, 2006
One of Michael Jordan's most memorable moments, his game-winner over Bryon Russell in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals, is widely considered an offensive foul that went uncalled.
So the fact that Dwyane Wade's heroic effort in Game 5 of these NBA Finals was blended with controversial foul calls, noncalls and timeout calls probably won't stain the accomplishment that has placed the Heat one win away from its first NBA championship.
"He's the best right now, and that's all you can say," Shaquille O'Neal said of his teammate. "He's the best."
Wade's 43 points were a career best in the postseason, but Wade himself likely would not call this his best playoff performance ever. That's because it began as one of his worst. The Dallas defense was determined to pay more attention to Wade whenever the dynamic shooting guard even came close to approaching the basket.
Wade started out 3 of 14 from the floor, and when he looked like he might begin to get it going, the Mavericks attempted to intimidate him with hard fouls, the most obvious coming at the 4:34 mark of the third period when Erick Dampier sent him to the floor and Josh Howard stood over him momentarily. Wade told the Mavericks players, "That don't work," as he approached the foul line, but it still would be a few more minutes before he proved it.
"Their defense was, I think, geared to him," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "He was 3 for 13 in the first half. He was having a hard time finding spaces and gaps."
The only constant for Wade throughout the game was his ability to get to the free-throw line. Even before he piled up 21 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, the 6-4 guard already had taken 16 free-throw attempts, setting the tone for what would be his finest moment.
"You know, when you make free throws, it puts you into a rhythm," Wade said. "Early on, I missed some shots I normally hit. But give them credit, they did a good job of making me take tough shots. I kept going, kept attacking.
"Second half, I came out and tried to get to the hole more, and like I said, the whole thing was, they were trying to not let me get there. You saw the segment, it was four hard fouls in a row. It got me into a flow and got me kind of mad at the same time. I was ready, I told Shaq, 'I'm with you, man.'"
Said Riley: "He's very, very smart when they are in the penalty. They got in the penalty third quarter, fourth quarter, a little bit early, and when they are in the penalty, he's not going to accept anything else but go to the basket.
"So he gets fouled a lot on the floor and guys are bumping and banging on him, and he gets to the line. So it's one of the benefits of actually having Shaquille when they started to hack him, they got into the penalty rather quickly in overtime, and he gets to the line."
It was Wade's final trip to the line, however, that will be questioned until these Finals are completed. Before Wade ever got a chance to score on the final possession with the Heat trailing by a point, the Mavericks contend that Wade committed a backcourt violation.
James Posey inbounded the ball to Wade, and replays showed that Wade simultaneously caught the ball while leaping with one foot into the backcourt. Wade was allowed to catch the ball in the backcourt, but had the officials determined Wade's left foot was still in the frontcourt when he made his initial contact with the ball, it would have been called a backcourt violation and given the Mavericks possession.
With no call being made there, Wade turned to his right and found a double-team of Devin Harris and Jason Terry. Before Wade was able to split that double-team, he could have been called for an offensive foul against Terry, who fell to the sideline after some contact with the driving Wade.
With no call there, Wade continued to the basket, this time finding Harris, Adrian Griffin, and Dirk Nowitzki in the way. Wade drove between Harris and Nowitzki to attempt a scoop shot. The official watching the play from behind, Bennett Salvatore, called the foul on Nowitzki for putting a hand on Wade's lower back as he was in the air attempting the shot.
The Mavericks believe that wasn't a foul, but photos showed Harris fouling Wade across the right wrist as he attempted the shot, which could have explained why Wade missed the layup attempt so hard off the backboard.
Wade insisted after the game that he was fouled, saying he got hit twice on his way to the rim. But the player known for his poise in the clutch still had to make two free throws.
He made the first, then had to sit through a timeout that the Mavericks didn't even want called at the time, and came back to make the second.
"There was no question in my mind I was going to make them," Wade said. "There was no question in any of my teammates' minds I was going to step up there and make them."
That put an end to arguably Wade's most memorable playoff game. But all it means is that the Heat must win a game in Dallas, which is the site of two of Wade's most uneven games in this postseason.
In the Heat's first two games of the Finals, Wade averaged 25.5 points but shot just 17 of 44 (38.6 percent) from the floor with nine total turnovers.
"When you go on the road and you don't play good games, then you turn the ball over, it's hard to win," Wade said. "But we took our two losses and came back home and got better and won a dramatic game in Game 3, and our confidence got really, really rolling after that. We've been playing on a high level. We have to continue to do it. We're up 3–2, and for us to win everything, we have to go out there and win one in Dallas.
"It's going to be very tough, but that's why we play this game, for these moments, so [I'm] looking forward to it."
And if matters get tough in Dallas, everyone knows who the Heat will turn to, no matter how he has performed to that point.
"I have a lot of faith in him," O'Neal said. "We all have faith in him. We just give him the ball and he does what he does. He's a very unselfish player, a very great player. It's not too many times that he starts off slow and he stays slow.
"Dwyane is just a fabulous player."
CHAPTER 4Believe It: Miami Heat, World Champs
By Greg Cote • June 21, 2006
Dallas — Smiling and hugging and screaming and dancing and blowing kisses and raising index fingers and pounding on their hearts and high-fiving and laughing and raising their arms in triumph, the best basketball team South Florida has ever seen held up the golden trophy at midnight here Tuesday night.
Mountain, climbed.
Basketball, conquered.
History, recorded.
Miami 95, Dallas 92.
The champion Miami Heat.
Hold on a second.
Let that one marinate for a second.
The champion Miami Heat.
Let's start that again.
Just to let it soak in so you know you weren't dreaming last night.
The champion, champion, champion Miami Heat is the best basketball team in the world, and it is a startling, flabbergasting, wonderful thing to say today — and forevermore. Let history record that it wasn't but four games ago that this season looked spent, down 13 points with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and down 2–0 in this series.
But the Mavericks exhaled to enjoy the view before completing the climb. And an avalanche by the name of Dwyane Wade fell on their stunned heads as, mouths agape, their season was suddenly buried in sand.
Get used to this, South Florida.
Wade isn't done.
No, he's just getting started.
"I can't wait to get back to Miami, man," he said afterward through a smile that wouldn't leave his face.
And, again, Wade is just getting started.
Finishing? It wouldn't be surprising if Alonzo Mourning, Gary Payton, and even Pat Riley decided to retire with this as the view. Riley is greedy about greatness, but he was made weary by this climb and needs hip replacement surgery, and he has finally delivered on the promised parade down Biscayne Boulevard that he talked about upon arriving in 1995.
"That stupid comment," he has called that promise in the decade since.
But now it is reality, all Tuesday's joy about to spill into Miami's streets in coming days until the parade — a parade that had been mapped and planned by Dallas, routes and times, when the Mavericks were up 2–0. Oops.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Dwyane Wade: Heart of the Heat"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Miami Herald Media Company.
Excerpted by permission of Triumph Books LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Forwards Passed as Backcourt Gets Boost 6
Heat Rookie, Fans Rise to Occasion in Victory 10
Dwyane Wade Pushes Fear, Mavericks Aside with Season on the Line 14
Wade Has Heat a Win Away from Title with Huge Effort 18
Believe It: Miami Heat, World Champs 22
Dwyane Wade Helps Fulfill Title Promises Made by Riley 28
Wade on Olympic Team 34
Head of the Class 38
MVP-Worthy 42
Wade County 48
Wade, LeBron on Same Team: Why Not? 52
The New Kingdom 58
Even Great Ones Need Help 64
LeBron James, Dwyane Wade Leao Way 70
Crowned 74
More Than Just a Flash of Greasiness 80
Dwyane Wade's Unselfish Attitude 84
Healthy Dwyane Wade Working Wooders for Miami Heat 90
Dethroned 94
Wade off the Court and in the Community 98
Messy Breakup 102
Dwyane Wade's Return to Miami Filled with Cheers, Emotional Moments 106
He's Back! 110
Back in It in a Flash 114
Dwyane Wade Reminds Us Why We'll Miss Him 118
One Last Team-Up 122