Whenever a superteam rises, people begin to downplay the hardships that go into winning an NBA championship. The reality is, winning at the highest level doesn’t strictly come down to talent. If that were the case, the trio of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden would’ve won a championship with the Brooklyn Nets. Winning a championship is often down to having nerves of steel and an almost unhealthy obsession. Just ask Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade, who’s waded through that darkness himself a few times.
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It’s easy to make assumptions when analyzing a situation in hindsight. In 2013, the Miami Heat went on to win their second consecutive championship against the San Antonio Spurs. That series could’ve easily gone in San Antonio’s favor if Ray Allen didn’t make one of the biggest shots in NBA history.
Before the NBA Finals, the Spurs didn’t receive much competition. They went on to sweep the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round and defeated a young Golden State Warriors squad in the second round. The final Western Conference team standing in their way was the Memphis Grizzlies.
That rendition of the Grizzlies was fresh off trading one of their franchise cornerstones, Rudy Gay. A few days ago on the Out the Mud podcast, Gay revealed a strong claim regarding the Grizzlies’ championship chances if he were still on the team.
“With all due respect to that team, they won the championship, but I don’t think they could have beat us that year,” Gay said. “The year I got traded. I think that was the year. That was our year.”
Word of Gay’s comments made their way to Dwyane Wade. The Hall-of-Fame guard could’ve let it go, but chose to address it on the Time Out podcast.
“So I sent a DM to Rudy, ‘Hey, this must be an AI-generated quote cause ain’t no way in hell you said this.’ He hit me back and said, ‘I said it. You’ve got to have confidence.’ I said, ‘Boy, belt to a**,'” Wade revealed.
As a competitor, Wade understands the level of irrational confidence Gay was referring to. However, some things he is unable to overlook.
“You don’t know how to win in the Finals. You just think it’s that easy. People really think it’s that easy,” Wade proclaimed.
If anyone has the credentials to speak on what it takes to win championships, it’s Dwyane Wade. He is a four-time champion and was able to win as the team’s best and also second-best player. There’s a lot of darkness that players and teams have to deal with to stand alone on the NBA’s mountaintop.
“It ain’t just parades. You’ve got to go through that darkness before you get to that light. So if you’ve never won before, you don’t understand what that darkness is, like down 0-2 in the Finals. That’s darkness right there,” Wade said.
Wade has experienced the highs that come with winning and the despair that comes with losing. Gay never played on those big stages, so his words don’t come across as strong. It appears more disrespectful than anything else.
As a result, Wade issues a warning to the masses to think carefully before they speak. If winning an NBA championship were so easy, everyone would be able to do it.
