Dwyane Wade has always struck me as one of the most down to earth, genuine athletes in professional sports, (I’m going to overlook the whole Way of Wade fiasco) but I have a hard time believing this.
Wade’s Miami Heat had its quest to surpass the 1972-72 Los Angeles Lakers 33-game winning streak, curtailed by the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night. The Heat fell six games short of tying the record but, according to ESPN, Wade says the streak wasn’t that important to them.
“It really didn’t matter to us,” Wade said. “If you get it, it’s awesome. If you don’t, we still won 27 games in a row. That’s pretty awesome. So, we really weren’t like, `We’ve got to get that record.’ Not at all. And now that it’s over, I’m glad it’s over.”
The media coverage during the streak was a bit crazier than usual for the reigning NBA champions and Wade’s just happy to move on but at the same time appreciate the feat they were able to accomplish.
“I don’t know who half you people are,” Wade said.
“Now that it’s over,” Wade said, “let’s look back on it as something that was great.”
I have a hard time believing that having your name associated with such a prestigious record didn’t matter to those players. If it didn’t matter to Wade, it mattered to Lebron James, who uncharacteristically, engaged in whining about the officiating after the game.
At the end of the day, the Heat have bigger fish to fry, if they walk away with the Larry O’Brien trophy in June, the streak won’t matter.