Team USA wins Olympic Gold: Dwyane Wade Is Back
by Bodog Sportsbook | Aug 26 2008
If we were to take a nationwide poll on who the best basketball player in the world is, 10 bucks says the 2008 NBA MVP and recent Team USA gold medal winner Kobe Bryant wins in a unanimous landslide with LeBron James coming in second. But is that really legit? Aren’t we forgetting someone? We’ll come back to that.
If you were glued to your TV screen for the past few weeks watching the Beijing Olympics you undoubtedly noticed a few glaring things:
1. The Olympics needs a point system for medals. It can be as simple as this: Gold is worth three points, silver two points and bronze one point. None of this sportsmanship malarkey—we need a winner or the whole thing is pointless.
2. Michael Phelps has about eight hearts and is a titan among mortal men.
3. We have finally found the eighth and ninth wonders of the world in Usain Bolt and any rhythmic gymnasts—we saw a girl pirouette, tumble a dozen times, flip and slide on the ground and catch a baton with the back of her knee!
And lastly, you might have noticed while watching Team USA men’s basketball that the best and most exciting basketball player on the planet is still… Dwyane Wade?
Don’t Call it a ComebackLet’s forget that Dwyane Wade was the leading scorer on Team USA, a team with stars like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant. Let’s even ignore the fact that D-Wade took over games offensively and defensively and was doing it coming off the bench. What we can’t ignore is the fact that the 2006 NBA finals MVP Dwyane Wade is back on top of the basketball world stage. But should we really be surprised or even impressed? Have we already forgotten what this man has done? Take a quick glance at Dwyane Wade’s resume and you will quickly
discover remember that D-Wade, aka Flash, is already one of the most clutch and dominant basketball players we have ever seen.
Wade is the same baller who saddled up the Marquette Golden Eagles on his back and led them to the Final Four in 2003. (Quick, name another player that was on that team!)
It’s not the Comeback Kid, it's Dwyane Wade, the same guy who almost single-handedly led the Miami Heat back from a 0-2 deficit against the Dallas Mavericks to win their first NBA championship. The man straight up averaged 34.7 points per game in the NBA finals. That’s not only bananas, it’s—well, for a lack of a better adjective—Jordanesque. Wade’s performance was ranked by NBA.com as the greatest finals performance of all time. Questionable, but arguably true. The bottom line is that the man breathes clutch. The best way to describe his game is as follows:
He has whatever you need whenever you need it: 3-balls, no look and one layups, steals, blocks, dimes, game winners… You name it, Flash has got it.
He’s one of those rare players that loves the contact and will do anything to get to the free throw line and whatever it takes to win. Settling for jumpshots or relying on others to step up is not an option for Wade. He takes over games and he finds a way every single time. It’s a slightly different approach than that of another NBA MVP—ahem, Kobe… Wade is willing sacrifice his body and play hurt. Ironically it is this very quality that has caused so many of us to forget what Dwyane Wade brings to the NBA. Numerous injuries sidelined the Miami Heat star and removed him from the NBA spotlight. But it’s not surprising that Wade is quickly forgotten. Flash came into the NBA in one the best draft classes ever, and lagged behind LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and yes, even Darko Milicic on draft day.
But now the top dog is back to reclaim his throne. Look for a healthy Dwyane Wade to be in MVP contention for the 2009 NBA season, and don’t call it a comeback.
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