I hope Dwayne Wade was misquoted in an article today in the Miami Herald. I know the Herald has issues with accuracy and they are still probably looking for the boat I dont own in Miami, but according to the Herald, and i have a hard time thinking even the Herald could get this quote wrong, Wade said the following:
DIG AT DIRK
After the Heat practiced Thursday at Quicken Loans Arena, Wade was asked if he believes players are ultimately remembered for what they do at the end of games.
Wade, who usually is selective and subtle with his criticisms of opposing players, took the opportunity to take a jab at Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki, who has failed to give the Heat credit for beating the Mavericks in the Finals last season.
”At the end of the day,” Wade said, “you’re remembered for what you did at the end. . . . I think that’s the reason — Dirk says they gave us the championship last year, but he’s the reason they lost the championship, because he wasn’t the leader that he’s supposed to be in the closing moments. That’s because of great defense by us, but also he wasn’t assertive enough as a leader’s supposed to be.”
Say what ? Is this the DWade of some of the lamest , boring commercials known to man ? Commercials that are singlehandedly responsible for selling more commercial skipping Tivos than anything else on TV ?
Dwayne I don’t blame you for not looking at tapes of the finals. You obviously didn’t. You would have seen your unbelievable skills and some other unbelievable elements that if I could discuss honestly here I would get fined for.
You are right, endings are remembered. And the ending of 3 of the games of the Finals will be remembered alongside Game 6 of the King vs Lakers Conf Finals a few years ago.
I guess you have earned the right to criticize Dirk with an obvious display of your own leadership skills.
I know Shaq appreciates your leadership as well. He called out your team a few weeks ago saying it was “embarassing’. Great leadership DWade. Your coach sat players for being fat. I guess you couldnt lead them away from the buffet.
You are an amazing player Dwayne. I love watching you shoot free throws. What you know about Dirk’s leadership skills is non existent. You don’t have a clue. Your ability to evaluate leadership skills….well you obviously have an overinflated value of your own. Did you take business classes at Marquette ?
Now we know why Charles won’t put you in his 5.
And Im pissed for one more reason. Im going to have to miss our next game against the Heat on Feb 22. A previous engagement. I guess its just a missed opportunity to bring a local business class to the game and try to let them interview you about your leadership skills.
Pingback: Day 5 - The Second Renaissance of Mr Big Shot - NBAMate
david stern is a embarrasment to the pro sports world. The jerk sits up in his ivory tower dictating to his minions below.
May be if he had ever played basketball or had any love for the game just maybe he would consider the credibility of the nba. While the super bowl is a massive event and the world series is huge the nba finals are a contrived mess. Thank you el dictator stern.
I don`t care who sells more add time or jeseys, the game is bigger than
your manufactured superstars. david stern should start a pro wrestling league its more his style (phoney balogna).
Comment by jeffro -
Wade is aided by the officals and Adolf Stern period. Someone come up with a solution. I agree 100% with your article. Wade\’s head has gotten too big. Please start a professional sports basketball league. The current one is run by Vince McMahonn and David Stern.
Comment by Luke Letter -
Dwayne Wade do have skills, but he receives too many calls.
Comment by Timberland -
Hi:
I m Priyanka, I m doing my Graduation . My Height is 5 feet.
I want to Participate in Daily TV Shows.So please let me know to whom i can Approach & how. I m not belonging to Rich Family, we r Middle Class Family .But i think i m Smart , i can do good Acting .So please let me know.
Regards
Priyanka
Comment by priyanka -
Mr Cuban,
Forget about the Pirates. Why don\’t you buy the Cleveland Indians. They have the best staduium in Baseball. The Browns are no competition. And there a terribly managed. You will win the World Series within the first three years.
Comment by Omar Rezec -
well i think you\’re awesome and i wish i could have met you before you got married lol go mavs!!!! I\’m still sick though over last nights game double ot so sad
Comment by heather -
This calls for sound effects…WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!
How old are you Mr. Cuban? It\’s great and all that you\’re an awesome businessman because you ripped off Yahoo the way you did, but stop crying over spilled milk. To say DWade is not a leader because Shaq is fat is ridiculous. First of all, if you\’ve EVER been on a sports team that won, you\’d understand things like \”veteran status\”. Shaq isn\’t just a role player on the team. Some might say that he\’s one of the greatest centers ever. So to think Wade can get Shaq to do things on a say so is outright stupid. Even Jordan couldn\’t control Rodman from getting technical fouls and changing the momentum of games. Would you dare say Jordan wasn\’t a good leader then? Wade\’s still a kid and is a leader by example. Who do they go to at the end of games for the Heat…Wade and he delivers. Who did the Mavs go to at the end of those games…Dirk and he didn\’t pull through.
Your conspiracy theories about the league being against you fall on deaf ears outside of the Mav fanbase. Stop blaming everything else for your loss last year, but the truth- you\’re beloved Dirk blew it. It\’s kind of hard to shoot with both hands around your neck. The Heat beat you guys 4 times and you had homecourt advantage. Your team doesn\’t have to look much farther than past the mirror to find out who REALLY lost the games. Wade on the other hand has the hardware to prove he\’s a champ.
Comment by JOE -
Want to talk about overrated? Dirk Nowitzky plays like
every other small white guy in the league- he just happens to be an ugly giant. He plays like a pussy, rarely dunks, and avgs less than 1 block a game, despite being over 7 ft. In the finals dwade and the heat embarassed the shit out of him and rather than just admit the pussy ass mavericks got their dicks handed to them, he cries like a little bitch and blames it on the refs. The refs arent the ones who CHOKED and blew a bunch of freethrows at the end of big games. You whiny bitches say the refs didnt call enough fouls on miami, when every goddam play your whole team was hanging on shaq and zo like a jungle gym, and they still dunked all over you, and packed the shit out of you. Fuck you Cuban. You and your franchise are pathetic. By the way, did you happen to catch your golden boy get annihilated in the 3 point shootout by Jason Kapono? 305 Bitch
Comment by Maverickssuckdick -
Karma – DWhistle\’s been talkin smack for the past month – digs at Dirk for his leadership and digs at Kobe for winning the AS MVP! Let\’s see him drive to the hoop with wreckless abandon now that he\’s suffered a major injury! I\’m not saying I wished this upon him, but I\’m just saying that he\’s starting to let the fame get to his head!
Comment by Gary Lee -
So your team blew it last year, and no way will they beat the Phoenix Suns in a 7 game series. Relax! It\’s only a game. I have to be a T\’wolf fan, even though they are 2 years away from being consistent. At least you get to watch a good team, so cut D-Wade some slack and get over your collapse in last year\’s finals. instead, I suggest you dread Amare Stoudamire and how he\’ll tear apart the middle of your defense.
Comment by Thomas -
I know you wrote this before D-Wade\’s new Gatorade commercial came out so you couldn\’t have known that he would have a commercial that doesn\’t suck. The angel/devil on his shoulder commercial is pretty funny. Also, I have signed up for the D-Wade leadership seminar. Lesson one is to always have someone around who is gigantic.
Comment by Brandon -
Fantastic!!! I needed the laugh to forget about being a desk jockey for a few minutes.
Comment by Kevin -
Nice… Dwayne Wade has skills but the amount of calls he gets is absurd.. He does drive into the lane but still.. since Mark can\’t say it, I\’ll say it for him.. The Mavs got robbed of the championship last season…
Anyways, I\’m a diehard Lakers fan and even though your team is a rival with my team, I still have to defend you on this. I like how you defend your players. I wish you were the Lakers owner. Well, actually, I wish that I was. But you do a great job with your team and it is a shame that David Stern fines you for every little thing. BTW, that April Fools joke was a classic.
Anyways Mark, you have a fan in Korea. If the Lakers don\’t win the championship this year, I hope the Mavs do. And if you are willing to trade Dirk for a package of SUPER DUPER VETERAN Aaron McKie and soon-to-be-All-Star Shammond Williams, please give Mitch a call. He MIGHT be willing to trade for Dirk.
Oh, and since you are brilliant with media outlets, can you please tell David Stern to offer NBA Broadband as a service that people can buy as a standalone product? I mean, he\’ll make more money and will have many customers. I know he has deals with other countries… but man, it\’s so hard to watch a Lakers game (or a great Mavericks game) from Korea. He can do the blackouts and everything — all the ones shown on TV, which aren\’t many, can be blackoutted. Or even better, you can invest in or create something that allows us viewers outside of America to watch LIVE NBA games. I can watch your beautiful Mavericks more often. Maybe you might even convert another man into a Mavericks fan. (This won\’t happen by the way — I love the Lakers too much.) BUT PLEASE ANYWAYS… make it happen — people will love you even more. GO MARK CUBAN!!
Comment by David Whang -
I just got a chance to read this one…I was hilarious!! I totally agree with you. I don\’t think Charles will ever put him in his top 5.
Comment by Christina Crabtree -
Mark Cuban is full of shit. He has no business talking about Dwyane Wade\’s Commercials given the fact that he doesn\’t have any himself. At least Wade\’s commercials are worth watching. The one time Cuban tried to get his own show (the Benefactor) it didn\’t even last a season. And Dirk Nowitzki is the biggest chocker in the league. He had the chance to tie game 3 of the Finals at the free throw line and missed the last shot. The Heat were simply the better team. They attacked the basket while Dirk was shooting jump shots.
Dirk was too afraid of contact. Hey Cuban! Keep your mouth shut!
Comment by Adam -
Leslie Alexander, not Anderson! Oops!
Comment by Tarah -
I do not think these opinions are too harsh at all. I actually came across this blog because I am writing a research assignment for a leadership class. Orig. I was writing my paper on Mark Cuban vs. Leslie Anderson but now feel compelled to write it on dirk vs. wade. I am pretty sure that I will not be fined by the things I have to say. The Mavericks, under Cubans leadership, are the most unorthodox team in any sports league. You can criticize the things that Cuban does/says, dirks leadership, or the way the team operates all together BUT IT WORKS, so screw you! I hope that wade is enjoying the current title of national champs, because it looks like the heat has fizzled out. I am sure the finals will be something wade is going to enjoy watching with his teammates at home and on the couch because his supreme genius leadership isnt taking them that far this year. I dont feel any of the eastern conference teams deserve to be in the finals this year.
Comment by Tarah -
You made some really good points. You and Rasheed Wallace have similar opinions of D. Wade. A couple of months ago Rasheed Wallace walked onto the court (in Miami) and started throwing is arms up in the air and rolling on the floor. When asked what he was doing he said \”I\’m practicing my D. Wade.\”
Comment by Don -
Sad but true: it’s spelled Dwyane. But furthermore, it’s odd at that he would talk about someone leadership’s skills when he flat out said that he’s not a leader himself.
Comment by Matt W. -
“I guess you couldnt lead them away from the buffet.”
Comment by Alex -
“I love watching you shoot free throws.”
Classic.
Comment by Scott Sargent -
Markie, Markie….take it easy. Dwade rocks! You, better than anyone, know that traditional media edits/cuts and misrepresents a man’s spoken word all the time. You got very personal real quick without confirming this is what he said and meant.
But for kicks, tell us what you really feel about “the unbelievable elements.” Come on’ Dave Stern doesn’t even know what a blog is!
Mark, you and your Mavs will win a ring soon (this year hopefully). Please, please, please don’t design such a tacky and obnoxious ring as did the Miami Heat. Show everyone you define class.
Comment by Eddy -