Overheated

            Never has a nickname fit the career of a star athlete so perfectly. Dwyane Wade has been the flash for the Miami Heat, there one moment and gone the next.

            Wade and his team took a beating at the hands of the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis. Still, the story from the Heat’s beating was not that Wade went 2-13, or even that the frustrated star got into it with his coach on the sidelines. Wade’s emotions told the tale that nobody in Miami wanted to read.

            Wade acted like he didn’t want to be a part of the Heat’s Grand Experiment anymore.

            The spark that drives Wade’s game appears to have burned out. The quickness that was synonymous with Wade’s cuts to the basket has slowed to the pace of a slug shooting jumpers. Wade has gone from a fiery competitor to a sour shooter looking for a foul call after every shot he takes.

            Now before everyone starts using the ‘q’ word to describe Wade, there are a few factors that the general public should consider.

            Maybe Wade misses the good old days of being able to win without getting viciously scrutinized for every misstep his team takes. 

Back in 2005-2006 Wade was the king of Miami. He brought the first Larry O’Brien trophy to South Beach in just his third season. Wade was regarded as one of the five best players in the NBA, partly because of his numbers (27.2 points 5.7 rebounds 6.7 assists per game) and partly because of the speed and fearlessness he played the game with.

            Then after a few years without rings, Heat management made Wade share his city with a star from Canada and Ohio’s hated icon. 

The signings of Chris Bosh and LeBron James appeared to make perfect sense. Wade was going to be the scorer, James the facilitator, and Bosh the rebounder whose star would diminish a bit for the sake of team chemistry.

But the addition of LeBron has created a power struggle that subtracted from the Heat’s team chemistry.

When the big three first came together, it was Wade’s team because he the jewelry James and Bosh wanted. In the playoffs last season, James and Wade took turns being the go to guy. The struggles to find the team’s leader ultimately lead to the Heat’s demise in the Finals.

No team who wants to win it all can have their best player and their leader as two different people. Wade acknowledged James as a better player in an interview with the Palm Beach Post. Wade extinguished his killer instinct to make LeBron feel better, and that move is bound to fail.

A team of Bosh, James, and Wade can’t do it alone, or at the least they need help beyond their bench warmers disguised as role players. Mario Chalmers can be effective, but is maddeningly inconsistent. Shane Battier looks older with every three he misses. And the Heat have nobody who can play in the post besides Bosh.

Due to the massive contracts of every member of the big three, blowing the team up is not an option. Nobody in the NBA with the new salary cap rules will want to make a move and take that kind of cap hit unless Miami picks up part of the tab on Wade’s contract.

Sadly for Wade, he is stuck in Miami with an MVP with no killer instinct, a hurt star, and not much else. And the current batch of ingredients does not make a recipe for title success. Especially when a key ingredient in Wade, has gone sour.