“Stop Disrespecting Larry O’Brien”: Dwyane Wade Opens Up on the Difficulty of Winning an NBA Championship

Dwyane Wade appeared in five NBA Finals over his 13-year career. And while his teams held the advantage in each one, he still walked away two rings short of his full potential. Even so, three championships are no small feat — and years later, Wade opened up about just how difficult winning even one can be.

If there’s one thing Wade is tired of hearing from people in the NBA community, it’s the idea that winning a championship is easy. Recently, on his podcast Time Out, he set out to silence the delusional thinkers once and for all.

Wade believes people need to understand just how much it takes to win a championship, because everyone says they’re going to do it, until it’s time to actually prove it.

“I just got a thing when it comes to everybody feeling like they can win a championship. First of all, stop disrespecting Larry O’Brien like that,” Wade stated.

“It takes so much to win a championship, and everybody can say it. Everybody can bring it in and say one, two, three, champions, or whatever. You actually gotta show us your work and how you’re going to get there and not just because you’ve won this round and that round,” he added.

Wade took the time to preach to the choir. It’s something that many NBA veterans would agree with. Especially some of the NBA greats who never won the chip but got agonizingly close. Like a Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, or Allen Iverson. 

Wade went on to explain that while teams may get close to reaching the Finals, without making the right adjustments, they’ll never take the next step.

“Each round is different. Each game is different. I need to see from players and I need to see from coaches these adjustments being made. I’m not seeing enough of these for the teams that are supposed to reach that level.”

It’s arguably the most important aspect of the playoffs that sets them apart from the regular season. In a seven-game series, teams have the chance to counter and adjust their game plans — and that’s what separates the good teams from the great ones. Having a sharp coach who can meticulously plan those adjustments makes all the difference.

The Hall of Famer pointed to the Minnesota Timberwolves as an example of a team that’s come close twice now but has fallen short due to a failure to adapt. “Like Minnesota, they were at a deficit when they started the series because of who they were playing against. But you also went to the Western Conference Finals last year. I need to see something better.” 

Later on, the Miami legend added that Minnesota’s performance this year, compared to last, was unacceptable. As a team that’s been on the big stage recently, they should’ve looked more prepared and adjusted more quickly. But Chris Finch was thoroughly out-coached by OKC’s Mark Daigneault, and that proved to be a major factor.

It’ll be interesting to see what the Wolves do this offseason. Wade said he’d love to know what the team plans to have Anthony Edwards work on — because, in his view, Ant needs to be able to hit every shot on the floor. That’s how high his ceiling is.

But if we know Minnesota, they’ll likely panic, make another lateral trade, and try the same formula again next year. And if they bow out in the Conference Finals once more? Well, they’ll cross that bridge when they get to it.