Dwyane Wade Traveling to Root for Team USA in London


DWade’s knee surgery this summer made it impossible to play for Team USA in the Olympics, but the Miami Heat superstar guard will be on hand next week, cheering on his buddies as they go for the Gold. From USA Today: “Dwyane Wade knows his close friends Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James. ‘CP (Paul) is the more serious one out of all of us,’ Wade says. ‘He’s more the captain. He’s the point guard. He’s the leader. … He’s got that thing with the little-man complex as well.’ Anthony? ‘Melo is like that big brother you’d like to be like. He’s just cool. His name speaks for itself,’ Wade says. And James? ‘Bron is as silly as it gets,’ Wade says. ‘Obviously, when he’s around us, he can let loose and be himself and not worry about being judged because he has to deal with a lot more than the rest of us have to deal with.’ Wade knows himself, too. ‘I’m a combination of all of it,’ he says. ‘I’m silly. I can be serious because I’m the oldest one. I can be cool and do my own thing as well.’ The four friends have been an integral part of USA Basketball’s men’s national team renaissance since 2006, after the disappointing third-place finish in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Wade isn’t playing in the London Games — the 2-0 U.S. squad plays Nigeria on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. ET — because he opted to have surgery on his left knee after the NBA Finals to alleviate discomfort. ‘Obviously, I wish I could be there and playing,’ Wade said. ‘Those are my guys. This probably would have been my last hurrah. I wanted to do it again.’ Instead, Wade, who won gold in 2008, is scheduled to arrive in London next week. The friendship began a decade ago when they began playing against each other either in summer camps or AAU games. James, Anthony and Wade were the Nos. 1, 3 and 5 picks in the 2003 draft, respectively. Paul was the fourth pick in the 2005 draft. ‘Me and LeBron, we’ve been together since high school. D-Wade was right there, too. We go way back,’ Anthony said. ‘With Chris Paul, we brought him along. Each day, we became closer.'”