Dwyane Wade
Dwyane Wade
Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr.is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association. He has established himself as one of the most well-known and popular players in the league. Wade had the top selling jersey in the NBA for nearly two years, leading the league in jersey sales from the 2005 NBA Playoffs, until the midpoint of the 2006–07 season. His first name is pronounced the same as the more common spellings "Dwayne" and "Duane"...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAthlete
Date of Birth17 January 1982
CountryUnited States of America
We needed it to start the game to know for one, we've got it in us. And for two, it was something we needed to do. We worked very hard yesterday on getting the focus to come out early, start out strong and we did it.
Of course me and Shaq will be the main focus of the offense, ... That was successful for us last year and will continue to be successful for us, hopefully.
We weren't as focused as we should have been, especially defensively because we know this is a great offensive team.
We can't say, 'We're not playing the best teams in the league, so we can relax.' Not at all. It's the NBA, so we have to focus on getting better, so we can be as good as we're going to get by the time the playoffs come.
I'm happy that I can focus on my body a little bit. I'm not happy to get surgery, but I'm happy that I can focus on getting better.
They really wanted it tonight and it showed. I don't think our team was as focused as we should have been, especially on the defensive end of the floor.
They just played with more energy than we did. Our team was not as focused on defense as it should be. In the first two games we sent them into our big guys. Today, with Shaq in foul trouble, it was a different story.
I approached the game differently by coming out and focusing on getting my teammates the ball. That is something I want to continue to do. I want to open things up and get my teammates the ball. Then I can start looking for my offense.
When a guy's 6-8, raises as high as he does and fades on his shot, you just try to do the best that you can to put a hand in his face. He made big shots for them.
We lost a great teammate. But I was also excited because the guys coming in can help us get to where we need to go, and that's to win a championship.
We don't want injuries, especially to our best player, ... We just hope he can come back real soon. He's a big guy and anytime he gets injured it's a lot of weight that goes down on his knee, ankle or whatever he hurt.
I've talked to him a couple of times. It has always been short, but it's always been good things. He always told me to keep playing the way I play and to continue to carry myself the way I carry myself. I heard through the grapevine that one of the players in the NBA he likes to watch is me. That's a great thing.
I've only scratched the surface of where I want to be in my career, ... And I know one thing, I haven't won anything yet so there's a lot more I can do there. But I'm going to continue to get better and do what I can to help my team be the best it can possibly be.
It was an ugly and painful game to watch.