Friday, July 16th, 2010 at 9:00 am  |  97 responses

Dwyane Wade: LeBron James’ Defender

by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

They’ve yet to play a single game together, but already, D-Wade is handing out plenty of assists to LeBron James.

Dwyane had a chat with the Associated Press yesterday, and spent much of it defending James’s disappointing and bewildering performance against the Celtics in the Playoffs.

Flash isn’t buying any of Dan Gilbert’s looniness about LeBron having quit on his team:

Wade said he watched every game in Cleveland’s second-round series against Boston, the team that eliminated the Heat in the opening round of the postseason. The Celtics used a similar defensive scheme against James as they did against Wade to open the playoffs, throwing a slew of challenges in the way of both.

“LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, guys like that understand what Boston’s defense was about,” Wade said. “Their defense was built on not letting one player beat them. You either settle for the outside shot or you pass to your teammates. LeBron had one bad game in the playoffs. Other than that, he did what he could do with the defense all watching him.”

“I don’t see where you can get where he quit,” Wade said. “He just had one bad game. It happens. Kobe had a bad game in the finals. They won. It didn’t matter. LeBron’s teammates didn’t help him out that game and it made the way he played even worse. But he’s not a quitter. He didn’t quit.”

Dwyane is clearly the only person in the LBJ camp who knows anything about spinning good PR. James ought to think about hiring him to help turn the tide of public opinion on him.

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  • http://www.realcavsfans.com Anton

    ^Not buying it. Celtics couldn’t stop LeBron when he was agressive in games 2 and 3.

  • sal

    lebum has proven he is a quitter.
    he needs dwade to be the king
    lebum isn’t even fit to be a serf.

  • AntMac

    @ Allenp

    Yeah, Kobe may have quit and Wade may have quit and MJ may have quit (not sure when but I’ll take your word for it)but Cleveland’s last memory of LeBron will be of him quitting on his team, ripping his jersey off in the tunnel in a move that, even at the time, seemed very symbolic and then leaving his team in an unbelievably crass and dispicable manner. At least those other guys stuck with it and didn’t become a ring chaser at the age of 25. That just seems weak to me. And now he’s got Wade fighting his battles for him…

  • Scottie Pimpin

    d wade keep talking out of his butt crack. dude should just shut up. that last game against the cletics the whole team quit, watch it on youtube.

  • JD

    Gotta say LeBron isnt doing that well PR wise but D-Wade is a great guy

  • ciroqobama

    On his best day Scottie Reynolds is a poor mans Jordan Farmar. BOOK IT assclown.

  • beyjee

    EBoy, really? you bring up the stats to defend his mediocre game 6? this isn’t Fantasy League, dude, watch the tape.

    and by the way, a team that leads the league two straight years with back 2 back 60 win seasons doesn’t qualify as “a bad situation”, they had enough good pieces over there, what they lacked was a closer, a leader, a go-to-guy, and that was what Lebron was supposed to be.

    and by the way, you can’t compare his situation in Miami with MJ’s Bulls, Magic’s Lakers, Bird’s Celts, heck even Kobe’s Lakers cuz these teams built their lineups through trades that gradually improved their roster, so i hate it when people say it’s the same thing, NO ITS NOT.

    again, LBJ and DWade teaming up in their prime is unprecedented, it’s like MJ joining Isiah, Bird joining Magic, or Chamberlain joining Russel. These guys are peers, they shouldn’t be in the same team… maybe not until the twilight of their careers!

  • The D Train

    The D Train says that if anyone watched Game 6, there is no way you could think Lebron was anything other than disinterested. The fact that he still got a triple-double was interesting, but The D Train wrote after the fact that it was the most misleading triple-double he’s ever seen. Guys like The D Train know a legitimate triple-double when I see one.

  • O

    The worst part about all this is that now superstars are gonna wanna align like Chris Paul said. Sure, i’d love for the Knicks to have their own balanced out “Big 3″ cause we’ve sucked for so many damn years, but before you know it it’s gonna be like 5 or 6 teams that’ll feast on the rest of the league. Hypothetical: Lakers, Heat, Knicks, Bulls, Magic and maybe Oklahoma (who wouldn’t wanna play with Durant?)

  • ConeyIslander

    ConeyIslander would like to agree with D-wade, the Celtic’s D swarms the ball. ConeyIslander thinks LeBron is good, but 5 on 1 is 5 on 1.

  • Robb

    I hate Lebron, and the way he did things was wrong, and I’m not talking about him signing with the Heat, that was his right ,but the whole TV stuff was just stupid, BUT I think it’s enough already, it’s not fair, he always gave everything for his former team and now he’s decided to move on. Forgive the guy already, I mean we all make mistakes don’t we?

  • http://www.hibachi20.blogspot.com BETCATS

    Lebron did ‘quit’ but so what. History is history. Lets all just let his legacy be whatever it may be and debate where he ranks after he starts achieving stuff. Jordan has quit before, Kobe has quite before, and Wade has quit before but they are all champions/finals MVPs. Lebron still hasnt got on that level.

  • http://www.slamonline.com J

    Kundai.. we turned down the amare deal? wow we gave anything phoenix wants except that phoenix didnt like anything we have not named lebron. we did our part at giving the best possible deal, phoenix didnt give it, is that clevelands fault? stop posting moron.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/ The Promise

    Why does the so-called “King” need a defender? Let him defend himself. He quit. Anybody that watched that series honestly can say that he did. If you can’t, then you have to be a die-hard fan of his that thinks he does no wrong, we see a lot of those on Slam.

  • cp3fan

    I urge everyone to go to Yahoo Sports and read the article that is beautifully written about how LeBron got to Miami. David Stern absolutely has to look into this. The real truth about LeBron James. He is far worse than Kobe is. More child than man. You all just have to read it. Form your own opinions. Really an eye opener about so called King James.

  • http://www.kb24.com The Seed

    Wade let Lebron defend himself, this is why I hated this move to the B Team, because now Wade will be the mouth piece to Pippen 2.0.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    SMH @ The Seed.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    @ beyjee: Don’t be ridiculous–the Cavs were that good in the regular season because LEBRON JAMES was that good. Don’t get it twisted. The reason the Cavaliers sucked in the postseason was because once defenses tightened on his teammates, they choked. LeBron James was still LeBron JAmes in the playoffs, minus ONE GAME. Don’t tell me the Cavs were good enough when Antawn Jamison didn’t show up one game.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    It’s funny that LeBron James’ previous team is suddenly considered good enough to win it all, and it’s LeBron James’ fault for them not beating a better Celtics team.
    Whose fault was it when the Lakers lost to Detroit? I guess it couldn’t have been KOBE, right? Karl Malone then? It’s funny because I don’t even like to engage in a Kobe vs. LeBron debate but most of these people ripping LeBron James 24/7 are Laker fans. Not all, but most.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    ******Don’t tell me the Cavs were good enough when Antawn Jamison didn’t show up a single game.

  • http://Slamonline.com Troy

    Lebron betrayed the city of Cleveland!!!!!!!

  • TrailBlazing&SportingLisbon

    @Eboy: it was EVIDENT HE QUIT IN GAMES 2,5 AND at the end of game 6…would like to see what you posted here at the time…and DWade´s a leader forsure, although HE DID NOT gave his best last year, but had the excuse of NOT HAVING A CHANCE AT THE TITLE as Bron did.

  • http://www.soundclick.com/thesupergenius Che-Son

    You know what I think is a way of evaluating someone’s leadership potential, especially guys like Pat Riley, Phil Jackson (peaking with the Bulls and MJ obviously), Doc, etc.? Put them in a different situation like working at Mcdonalds or leading a band, and you can sort of picture what a real leader looks like, and you quickly realize that a great leader is not typically someone who makes a great star. – Lebron’s a star, but his gift ain’t leadership one bit. You sort of imagine he’d be the guy that everyone wants to be, but not the leader. DWade is clearly the leader, and I’d bet is has something to do with their post-secondary careers. (And because DWade is the mack) Dwade recruited the others to come to Miami. Wade has the CHIP! Wade has old eyes, and yet he’s at the top of his game. Look at Pat Riley’s eyes, Jax’s eyes, Doc’s eyes…Old eyes. Now look at Lebron’s eyes; watch him chew those nails, and ask yourself if that’s the guy that leads men into battle, or if maybe the dynasty that we may be, ahem, ‘witnessing’ won’t rest on the shoulders we thought. What position did Micheal and Scottie play again?

  • peter

    The Seed: um…the Cavs WERE considered good enough to win it all. When they got Antawn everyone was talking about how nobody could beat them. And, yeah Kobe got the majority of the blame for losing to Detroit. They were supposed to win that. It obviously doesn’t always play out like its supposed to, but you can’t go back and change the fact that the Cavs were favourites all season with the best record in the league and suddenly they area a bunch of scrubs.

  • JalepinoSauce

    Jordan had pippen , rodman. Magic Had Kareem and Big Game James. Bron got what he wants now so hate on sukaz.

  • The Philosopher

    @Che-Son:
    Interesting points.

  • Nova

    SCOTTIE REYNOLDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • truhero

    this is what happens when teams get this good. no one can believe it now, watch how everyone hops on the heat when you see how perfect these 3 guys compliment eachother.

  • Javy

    I just saw a cover of sports illustrated, guess who was on the front…..”WADE”. The background was filled with the faces of other 2 guys but the main man was in front.
    Yaikes, that stinks LB!
    Good luck, like Sr. Charles said it, “It doesn’t feel the same”…..”it feels like you’re cheating”…
    Weak A****ss. Good thing you picked a new #.
    Jordan on the celtic’s series:OHHH, shut, he’s wearing my #!
    Damn.

  • The Philosopher

    It’s a new day, brethren.
    We all know and realize that there will… NEVER be another Jordan. We know there will never be another Magic, Bird, and/or even Isiah. The list goes on, for sure.
    The thing about this that is special to me, is that these guys (The King, Wade, Bosh) realize it. All of them.
    It IS a factual reality, and the whole League is taking notice, for Chris Paul is at Carmelo’s wedding preaching “Big Three in New York” rhetoric.
    All because of what is transpiring in Miami, in which The King set off, by the way.
    By the end of this, The King will be viewed as a pioneer to the game throughout the ages. He ushered in a new way of thinking. He is ushering in… progression.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/ The Promise

    @Cp3fan: I read the story, just proves everything I think about the guy, he cares about no-one but himself. The self promotion is sickening, the yes men the cater to his every desire, he had to have a bunch of superstars to ever win, because he couldn’t do it on his own. I thought he was a King? Kings rule on their own, they don’t need no help from nobody. He’s a punk, and I’m tired of hearing about him daily.

  • The Philosopher

    LONG… LIVE… THE KING.

  • http://dsjfklf.com Jukai

    Look, I’m one of Lebron’s biggest defenders on this entire website.
    But the dude quit.
    And the dude abandoned his team in the worst way possible.
    These are two undisputable facts that will forever lower Lebron and his legacy.
    He never quit in 2009. That’s ridiculously stupid. But 2010, game 5 he gave up because he was mad with management and the horrendous coaching… and game 6, he tried up around until the 3rd quarter and then gave up in the fourth.
    You can’t debate this. It was obvious.
    Yeah, other players quit, but it’s irrelevant, and they got hate for it. This is Lebron’s turn to get hate. I’m still rooting for the guy, but the hate’s justified.

  • dr

    nupe your comment was “I don’t think he quit however I think he was highly frustrated and lost belief in his team and accepted failure before it happened.”

    dude that’s quitting

  • http://www.slamonline.com/ The Promise

    Thank you Jukai. Yes, the hate is justified, there are many people on here that feel the same way. He will never be looked at the same from a lot of his fans and especially his critics. Will he quit on his new teammates if he isn’t looked at as “the man”? You have to wonder at least a little. I used to like the guy, I’ve lost a lot of respect for him, on and off the court. He’s never been told no, therefore he has a sense of entitlement. He may win titles, but its not gonna feel as good as it would if he one them without multiple superstars backing him up.

  • http://dsjfklf.com Jukai

    The Promise: That’s where I disagree. He threepeats, and we forget this whole mess. He then wins one on his own, and he’s back in contention for top SF of all time. Winning makes EVERYONE forget, justified or not.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/ The Promise

    You have a point, winning does make people forget about these athlete’s shortcomings and so forth. And thats what gets to me, is that 95% of people on here that are currently hating on him will suddenly change their tune and be all happy for the guy, they will forget what he did to his former team, former hometown, how he constantly looks for a new way to promote himself, it just goes on and on, we have talked about it for days on end.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    “Kings rule on their own, they don’t need no help from nobody.” Pretty stupid thing to say, no offense The Promise. I’d like to see Alexander the Great conquer Europe and Asia without his big @ss army, or Napoleon without his army.
    OR OR Kobe winning without help.
    It doesn’t happen.

  • beyjee

    @Teddy-the-Bear, once again i say this, a team that has back-to-back 60 win seasons in this day and age is no joke. they were very good, but whether they were good enough to win it all, maybe not yet, were they a trade or two away from it, perhaps, but we’ll never know. but the worst thing a franchise player can do is quit on the last game of the season, then throw away his cavs jersey to the floor for everyone to see,then 2 months after paraded around Miami in a Heat jersey along with Dwade and Bosh saying things like, “we’re not here just to win one ring…two…three…four…eight.” that’s a cop-out, no matter how you spin it.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/ The Promise

    @Teddy-the Bear: Do you think Alexander the Great would have surrendered and left his army to die, like your pathetic so-called King did? I think not. As beyjee said above, it was nothing short of a cop-out on his part, he couldn’t handle the pressure anymore. And since you mentioned Alexander and Napoleon, think of it like this: Do you think either of those men would have said, “Oh well, I can’t defeat this nation, might as well join them.” Not in a million years. The point I made in that post above was that, He’s no King. If there is a King in basketball right now, its Kobe Bryant. 5 rings speak for themselves.

  • http://dsjfklf.com Jukai

    There was no way the Cavaliers were one or two trades away from winning it all. Mo Williams, Delonte West and Anderson Varejao wilted in pressure situations so badly, they may as well been D-Leaguers. Those are the CORE GUYS on the team.
    And Bryant TRIED to leave the Lakers, first toying with joining the Clippers, then trying to force a trade to Chicago. I don’t get why people use Kobe Bryant as a sterling example of a guy who ‘never bailed ship.’ Kobe TRIED. Management kept him.

  • beyjee

    @Jukai, Mo Williams, Delonte and Verajao are D-Leaguers? wow, ok, goes to show where you’re coming from. Lebron pretty much had the same 29-7-7 line the past 6 years, but they won 60 wins only the last 2 years, could it be that they were gradually improving with a few pieces? probably not if you had something to say about it.

    a lot of players wanted to leave at some point in their careers, the thing being questioned is how lebron left. Nobody EVER, EVER left a 60 win team to join up with 2 other max players, let alone a fellow top 50 player of all time (Wade) in his prime, that’s just unprecendented. somehow this really gets lost in all these comparisons, I don’t know why. Kobe wanted to leave a bad team because they were in rebuilding mode and he wasn’t having none of that. he wanted to go to Chicago or the Clippers, but no one was waiting there for him there, it would’ve still been a challenge with him and a couple of key players to win it. that’s a big difference.

  • http://dsjfklf.com Jukai

    beyjee: Okay, first off, Lebron’s stats have steadily improven, I have no idea where you got that number. His shooting percentages and assists have skyrocketed.
    Sure, Lebron has gotten better players— Mo, West, and Varejao are all great players when the pressure is off, but time and time again, it has been shown that once sh*t really hits the fan, these guys disappear. Say what you want about the 2007 squad, at least those guys were consistant throughout their playoff run. Throw in horrendous, atrocious, bottom of the league coaching and you can see why Lebron was not winning a chip in Cleveland. End of story.
    Your point about Kobe is semantical. Yes, Lebron going on WADE’S team should mean something, but Lebron going to a better team means absolutely nothing. Kobe wanted to leave for greener pastures, in places he could win in. Same as Lebron.
    If Lebron doesn’t want to be the man, that’s an entirely different story. We’ll have to wait and see on that.

  • beyjee

    @Jukai,

    on the contrary my friend, i’m afraid you’re the one playing with semantics, equating “moving to a better team” as categorically the same no matter the circumstance, when in truth Lebron’s circumstance is totally different from Kobe’s, let alone everyone else’s. are LBJ and Wade both top 50 players of all time? isn’t Chris Bosh a Max player? are their all in their primes?

    as for lebron’s numbers, you can check it out yourself:

    http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3704/career;_ylt=AnClNI8uspWGX_KGARP6BzLJPKB4

    –start from 2004 onwards then compare everything to his career average at the bottom, crunch the numbers my friend.

    peace

  • beyjee

    @Jukai, yeah players sometimes want to win in greener pastures, but not the way LBJ did, ask MJ.

    http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5391478

  • http://www.soundclick.com/thesupergenius Che-Son

    The thing so many of you seem to forget is that a person’s legacy isn’t even remotely affected by internet chatter, and that all the opinions change but they all stay the same. The way history will view Wade, James, and Bosh will be defined by how dominant they can be. And it looks like they could be pretty farkin dominant.

  • Tyler

    cosign Che-Son
    everyone is hating on these guys cuz they have an opprotunity that most don’t get. These people would have done the same damn thing if they were in the same position. Will they win the title this season? No, but they will win eventually.

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