The NBA Playoffs will kick off this weekend, and for the first time in a long time the Miami Heat will be missing in action. Over the past four seasons the Heat made it to the NBA Finals and walked away with two championships, and it was a historic run that the game of basketball will never forget. Fast forwarding to this season, the expectations of the Heat were low. With the best basketball player in the world in LeBron James no longer on their team it was easy to give the Heat a pass for not being a good team.
Many would figure that a team that is bringing back 80% of their core players could garner a playoff spot in the lowly Eastern Conference. Well, that didn’t happen. With an unexpected non-basketball injury to Chris Bosh it put a big damper on the Heatles’ playoff hopes. Even with Bosh out, you would figure that a Dwyane Wade team with Luol Deng and Goran Dragic would make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, but that didn’t happen either. Everyone knows if this situation happened with any other superstar like a Carmelo Anthony all hell would break loose in the media. This comes to show you how loyalty, longevity, and championships can protect a player at all costs. The player im talking about is Dwyane Wade, who is close to untouchable when it comes to criticsm. At this point in Dwyane Wade’s career he is what Derek Jeter was to the Yankees.
Like Jeter, Wade is a proven champion and is a first-ballot hall of fame whenever he decides to retire from the game of basketball. Both Jeter and Wade established their legacies early in their careers by winning titles and playing for a high level for many years. It’s even ironic that both of them won championships by taking secondary roles by playing with polarizing superstars in Alex Rodriguez and LeBron James. Both Jeter and Wade are close to be untouchable when it comes to criticsm, and their shortcomings were and are often blamed on those around them.
In reference to this year’s basketball season its been a clear of example of Wade showing that he is the Teflon Don of the NBA ( Word to Ed The Sports Fan). People have accepted that Wade is an often injured player that is still efficient when he is healthy. The problem is that Wade hasn’t played more than 70 games since the 2010-2011 NBA season. This past year he played in 62 games and averaged 21.5 points and 4.8 assists. It’s no secret that Wade can still play, but I’m sure the Heat would have loved if Wade played at least 70 games to sure up a playoff bid for them. Wade has brought the Miami Heat three championships and is a rare player in this era of basketball that played all of his years with one team. As Jalen Rose would say, Wade is fully entrenched in the Miami Heat Mafia, and everyone knows that if you are in any type of mafia you are untouchable.
Wade is a global sports icon like Derek Jeter who can do no wrong in the eyes of the sports media. So what if Wade takes FMLA time during the season and rest his knees on nights when he doesn’t feel like suiting up. I guess it comes with the territory if you are a champion who is loyal. Many can’t say they have entered this territory, but it’s safe to say that Dwyane Wade is the Derek Jeter of the NBA, and after looking at Wade’s basketball credentials that’s perfectly fine when you have won championships in many ways, displayed loyalty to teammates, coaches, and the front office through the good and bad times of being apart of an organization.
