Dwyane Wade: Under Appreciated Superstar

There is no doubt that Shaquille O’Neal is the emotional leader of the Miami Heat and the experienced champion, but Dwyane Wade has fast become not only the best player on the team, but also the clear go-to guy.  He has become the man that can bring his team back from almost insurmountable odds to win games, as he did in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. 

Not only is Wade leading the team with 27.2 points per game, he also leads the team with 6.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game.  He has made a number of big shots in these playoffs and without him the Heat would’ve been golfing long ago.

However, leading his team to the Finals and carrying them with a 42 point performance to an amazing comeback win to stay in the series is underappreciated.  How could this man be underappreciated? Well, to Heat fans and true NBA fans that know and love the game, Wade is valued as a top player.  But to the average fan that just watches the playoffs, he isn’t really a big name.  For example, I could guarantee that if 100 casual basketball fans were asked to name a player on the Heat O’Neal would get most of the notoriety. 

I have several theories on why this is the case and why Wade is still flying under the radar even though he is tearing up opponents and saving his team.

Number one, as mentioned before, he plays with Shaq, quite possibly the second greatest and most loved player to ever step on the court.  He has the big mouth and the rings to back it up.  You hardly ever see D-Wade speaking up in interviews or drawing any additional attention to himself off the court.  The press members are always waiting by Shaq’s locker to see what the next great one-liner is going to be.  Wade gets plenty of interviews but he goes the other way and tries not to make a big fuss.  You will probably never see a Wade comment make it to the front page of the next day’s paper because it’s not his nature.  It is that quiet attitude that makes him a silent assassin in crunch time, but has thus far prevented him from elite status off the court.

Another reason for Wade’s lack of cred is the fact that he went to Marquette and played for Tom Creen.  Don’t get me wrong, that team went to the Final Four and was very impressive, but it wasn’t North Carolina, Duke, or Michigan State and it wasn’t Roy Williams, Coach K, or Tom Izzo.  Everybody that watched the Final Four could tell that Wade was a good player and had some talent, but hardly anybody (except the Heat) knew what he might be capable of. 

This brings me to my next point; the 2003 NBA Draft.  Wade was taken with the fifth overall pick in the draft; yes the fifth pick.  While LeBron James was the sure thing at the top spot, the Pistons, Nuggets, and Raptors all passed on Wade.  Darko Milicic was the Ryan Leaf of NBA Draft picks and while Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh are nice players but they haven’t taken their game even close to the level that Wade has.  The Heat either saw something that many other teams didn’t or they just took what they thought was the leftovers of the top five.  Either way it has worked out pretty well for them.  The fifth draft pick usually doesn’t get the respect or the attention as the first four do and this could be another reason that he hasn’t been popular as fast with NBA fans.

The last reason that Wade might not be as widely loved as players like LeBron, Kobe, and Nash is that he doesn’t shoot the three ball.  Chicks might dig the long ball, but everybody digs the three ball and Wade shot 17 percent from behind the arc this season and hasn’t really tried to find his range in the playoffs.  Everybody loves to see somebody pull up in transition and fire up a momentum-changing three pointer, but Wade just simply isn’t that guy.  He would rather drive to the basket and make some spectacular plays that often result in three points anyways, the old-fashioned way. 

Regardless of why Wade hasn’t got the run he deserves yet, things are changing rapidly because his play is too good to ignore.  It might take a few more historic 40 or 50-point playoff performances to get him the credit he desperately deserves, but hardly craves.  Just look for number 3 to keep his mouth shut and play with the determination of a champion every minute on the court.  It won’t be hard to find him, he’ll be the quiet one putting daggers in many teams’ hearts for years to come.