FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Hi, thanks for reading this blog so far. This is your boy, Ahung, and I'm going to give you an article worth reading again, and again, and again. This time, it's a little documentary on Dwyane Wade, starting from his rookie year in the NBA to right after the NBA Finals, dubbed 'The Happy Years'.

 Let's have a little blast through the past. It's the year 2003, and the draft is going on. Perhaps the greatest insertion of talent is happening today for the NBA. Lebron James, Darko Milicic, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Bosh have all been selected by their respective teams(all but Darko are still on the same team today). Dwyane Wade is sitting with his family, hoping the Miami Heat will select him with their 5th pick, but not too hopeful, as he has been informed he could fall back as far as the 20th pick. No one expected him to be picked higher than 10th. As David Stern begins to read out who the Miami Heat select, Wade closes his eyes, not wanting to listen. He hears his name, and his eyes burst open with shock. After a couple seconds, he gets up and hugs all his family, and goes up to the stage. And so begins the career of one of the soon-to-be greatest players in the game.

Dwyane Wade's rookie season had a rough start. He missed several games with a broken wrist, and even the games he played he was not at full health. As a result of all this, the Heat started the season 5-15. However, Wade's wrist healed, and he began showing everyone his true talent. After averaging 11 points per game for the first half of the season, he finished the second half averaging over 20 points a game, finishing with 16.2 points, good for 3rd among all rookies. He finished 2nd among all rookies in steals, 4th in assists, 2nd in field goal percentage, and fourth in minutes played. However, he truly lit it up in the playoffs that year. The Heat went 42-40, facing off against the New Orleans Hornets in the first round. Wade averaged about 25 points, and 6 assists for the series, as the Heat took them out in 7 games. They then faced the 61 win Pacers, and started the series off leading 2-0. However, the couldn't hold this lead and eventually fell to the Pacers in 6 games, losing all of the last four games.

 During the offseason, the Heat brought in Shaquille O'Neal from the Los Angeles Lakers. This new tandem of Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal sparked interest around the Nation, and many people started placing the Heat as their favorite to win the championship. And the Heat responded well. They finished with a 59-23 record, which was a 17 game improvement. Dwyane Wade was selected as an All Star Reserve, scoring 14 points in 20 minutes of playing time. He finished the season with averages of 24 points per game, 5 rebounds per game, and 7 assists per game, to go with 1.8 steals and 1.1 blocks. They finished with the 1st seed in the East, and played the New Jersey Nets in the first round. Dwyane averaged over 26 points and 7 assists as the Heat swept them. In the second round, the Heat swept the Nets, with Dwyane Wade averaging 32 points per game. However, the Heat lost to the Pistons in the Conference Finals. Part of this was due to the fact Dwyane Wade injured himself and as a result the Heat lost the final two games, after holding a 3-2 lead in the series.

 The 2005-06 year was the perhaps the best for Dwyane Wade. He was selected as an All Star starter, scoring 20 points on 9-11 shooting, including the game winning put back dunk. He had averages of 27.2 points per game, 6.7 assists per game, 5.7 rebounds per game, 2.0 steals per game, and 0.8 blocks per game. Through Dwyane Wade's amazing play, the Heat swept by the Bulls and Nets on their way to face the Piston's again. However, this year, the Heat managed to beat the Piston's, going 4-2. Dwyane Wade entered the first Finals of his career.

Shaq was later quoted as saying, 'In the locker room, they all be asking me for tips, advice. I just be telling them, do your hardest guys, don't think of this is anythin' but a regular game'. And this truly was the case. Shaquille O'Neal was the only guy on the team with Finals Experience. Dwyane Wade sat in the corner, listening to his music, getting ready for the biggest games of his career.

After two sub-standard games, and the Heat down 0-2 in the series against the Mavericks, Dwyane took over in Game 3, 4, 5, and 6. With the Heat down entering the 4th quarter of Game 3, Dwyane Wade scored 15 of his 42 points in the final period to help give the Heat their first win of the series. And so he continued. He scored 36, 43, 36 in the final 3 games to push the Heat towrds the first championship.

During their tour of the city, Shaquille O'Neal began singing praise of Dwyane Wade, naming him Flash Gordon. He was quoted as saying one week before the season started, 'The only thing that could stop us now is a bigury to Dwyane'And on this ominous saying, The Down Years began. However, that will be documented on next time. For now, thanks for reading this blog, and please comment on what you think.