The ‘Welcome to the NBA’ moment is inevitable for every young player. Whether by a role player or from a star, each player has their own story that welcomed them to the league. Suns star Bradley Beal joined Theo Pinson’s ‘Run Your Race’ Podcast and narrated the story of his eye-opening experience.
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Ahead of an exhibition matchup against the Miami Heat, Beal received the matchup against Hall-of-Famer Dwyane Wade. He gave an account of the experience, which set the tone for his rookie season. He said,
“Film session, scouting report, [Dwyane Wade] what’s on there? Shot fake, stay down. D-Wade I kid you not, caught that ball in the mid-post on me. Face me up. Pump faked, I didn’t go for it. Took a hard dribble baseline. He’s about to rise up and shoot. I jump up so high. D-Wade’s about 225, his shoulder [bump] took all that off. That’s my welcome now.”
The Wizards drafted Beal with the third overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. That season featured the Heat capturing their first champion of the LeBron-Wade-Bosh era. Wade was fresh off the heels of making the All-NBA Third Team while averaging 22.1 points and 4.8 rebounds on 49.7 percent shooting from the field in the 2011-12 season.
Additionally, the Heat star was notorious for his deadly pump fake. Washington’s coaching staff implored Beal to stay on the ground and not become one of Wade’s long list of victims, but he was afraid of getting scored on, so he succumbed to it.
However, Beal was able to get his revenge in the regular season. The Wizards started the 2012-13 season 1-13. Their next game was against the Heat at the Verizon Center (now known as Capital One Arena).
Beal helped lead the Wizards to an improbable upset over the reigning champions without star point guard John Wall. In terms of individual performances, Wade still bested Beal with 24 points compared to 10 points for the rookie.
Wade was dominant in 2012-13
The 2012-13 season was Wade’s final year at an All-NBA level. The true impact of ‘The Flash’ came in his two-way ability.
Defensively, Wade was still among the top among perimeter players. The opposing team’s points per possession were -5.0 with Wade on the court. That mark put him in the 89th percentile in the league.
Offensively, there weren’t many guards that were able to attack the rim as efficiently as Wade. The Heat star shot 69% at the rim, which was within the 95th percentile.
Wade was the perfect co-star alongside LeBron James and was an integral piece in the Heat winning consecutive championships.
