Dwyane Wade Says ‘I’m Not Done Yet’

Write off Dwyane Wade at your own peril, the Miami Heat superstar guard claims. He’s getting healthier, and Wade feels confident that he’ll continue to play an enormous role for the defending NBA champs. Per the Sun-Sentinel: “About to turn 32 during the coming season, Wade has heard it all this offseason when it has come to diminished expectations. To some, it already is a given that after struggling through the push to last season’s NBA championship, his role alongside LeBron James and Chris Bosh will be reduced, or at least more closely managed, going forward. It is a concession Wade stressed won’t be made, won’t need to be made. ‘I think we’ve been around each other long enough to where we respect each other’s opinions, respect each other’s decision, and most importantly, it’s about the big picture,’ he said of Heat management and the coaching staff. ‘So I’m never closed minded on things, but, also, I’m a player. I want to be on the floor. Obviously, I want to be on the floor healthy. So, we’ll see. I’m going to go into the season, take it day by day, step by step. I’m not going to think about what people say I should do or think I should do. I’ll do what my body tells me to do.’ […] ‘I’m not done yet,’ Wade said. ‘I still got more in the tank. Like I said, my focus is just to make sure physically I can do the things I need to do. My skills haven’t diminished by no stretch of the imagination.’ Yes, there are concessions to age after 10 years in the league, but not to the degree many anticipate, amid speculation ranging from the Heat holding him out of a preset number of games during the regular season to resting him on the second nights of back-to-back games. ‘You lose something as you get older, when it comes to your athleticism,’ he said, ‘but you don’t lose your game, you don’t lose what’s up here [pointing to his head]. My job, my whole life, I’ve always had that kind of doubter, people have always doubted me. And I don’t know how I would succeed without it. So I welcome it, and it gives me a challenge and I will see if I can live up to my challenge.’ For Wade, the target is not the Oct. 1 start of training camp, but the Oct. 29 regular-season opener against the visiting Chicago Bulls. ‘I’m still in my process of recovering from the bone bruises that I had, and the tendinitis in my knee,’ he said. ‘So, you know, I’m not 100 percent, but I’m getting better, and over the course of time, it will get better and better as I get strong.'”