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NBA FINALS: SPURS v HEATJune 5, 2013Dwyane WadeMIAMI, FLORIDA: Practice Day Q.  Dwyane, people always talk about different sort of courses for different courses, how series change. Do you see a different dynamic in this then against the Pacers? And maybe something in this series that can help open up your game a little more, whether it's coming off a Game 7, whether it's the way the Spurs play, whether it's Erik's game plan going to this? Do you see a different look for yourself in this series? DWYANE WADE: We'll get to that. Obviously, we've only done a little preparation so far. As we get into practice, as we get a little bit more into the film, we'll see where opportunities will be different. Obviously every series is different. The Pacers presented a different challenge to us than the Spurs. But they will present a challenge as well. So we'll get to the game plan. Q. Dwyane, while LeBron is certainly focused, do you sense he might feel less pressure and stress than say a year ago when you guys were coming back after that Dallas loss? DWYANE WADE: Yeah. Obviously, he would. After so many years, when you kind of question yourself and doubt, am I ever going to win a championship, into finally winning one, it takes a little pressure and stress off you. But he's not relaxed to a standpoint of‑‑ he still wants to win again. He still wants to win another one. So he's hungry, too. Q. What do you think multiple titles does for his legacy? DWYANE WADE: What it does for everybody else's legacy, (laughing) sets him up pretty well. Have him talked about for a long time. Q. Dwyane, LeBron talked just a moment ago about what it felt like to see the Spurs celebrating on their home court in 2007, and as a competitor you just hate to feel that. Knowing the fact that he's a student of history of this game, how much do you think it burns in him to take something from the team that took something from him? DWYANE WADE: I mean, I believe that after that Finals he probably always obviously wanted to get back again. But I think he probably always wanted to get back and play them. So obviously having this opportunity right now is probably something he always dreamed of, of getting back to The Finals and playing the Spurs again. I'm sure he's looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity. And being a better player, being in a better situation with a better team, a little bit more confident, but at the same time, he does understand how tough it is to go against that team as well. So he can bring a lot of knowledge to us, because he played them in The Finals before, and we haven't. Q. He said after the game the other night that he's 20, 40, 50 times better than he was in 2007. How do you assess his assessment of himself? DWYANE WADE: Well, when he started at 20, I thought he was crazy. When he got to 50, I was like, okay, that's a little bit better. So obviously he's a lot better than he was six years ago. He was 22 years old; now he's 28. He's been through so much more in the game of basketball. So he's 50, 60, 70 times better than he was in 2007. Q. Dwyane, how have you adjusted to what your body is and isn't allowing you to do right now in these playoffs? DWYANE WADE: I am just trying to do whatever it takes. Certain nights it's higher assists. Certain nights it's higher rebounds. Certain nights it's more focus defensively. Hopefully I get my opportunities to be aggressive offensively. So just try to do whatever I can that night to try to help my team win. Q. A few years ago you talked about when you won your championship in '06, you thought that‑‑ it kind of spoiled you. You thought it was going to be easier going along. When you think about how it took five years to get there, now the Spurs, it has taken them six years from their last trip, what does it say about their ability to kind of maintain that core and still get there six years later when I know you guys had to kind of rebuild couple of times? DWYANE WADE: It's incredible. It's remarkable, to have pretty much the same core and to‑‑ they have had years where they've been just as good as other years, I guess, from the standpoint of having the number one seed, being a very good team and being out of it in the playoffs. They just show the resilience of a franchise, of an organization of individual players to get to this point again. So it's very impressive from that standpoint. Like you said, we had to rebuild. We had to have a total makeover here to get to the point where we could get back to The Finals. So there's a lot of respect for them around the league for those guys to do it year after year. Q. Erik always talks about the high IQ of you guys on the Heat. Talk about the IQ of the Spurs as a whole. DWYANE WADE: Yeah, they are just as good as it gets, from the standpoint of IQ basketball. They seem like they know where each other are without looking. They play total team basketball, obviously. And we feel that in a different style, different form we feel we play total team basketball, and we are high IQ. So in a sense we have similarities with a lot of differences as well. So we'll see how it collides when the series starts. But, yes, they do pass the ball very well. They're very unselfish. And they know their game. They get to their game. Q. Dwyane, even in seasons when they don't win it all, there's never really talk about breaking up Tim Duncan, Ginobili and Parker. When you guys faced elimination, there's talk about will this team stay together? Can you address that dynamic between two consistent winning teams. DWYANE WADE: First of all, you don't have to raise your hand. I can see you in that lime green shirt. You stand out today. Yeah, it's just different. Obviously being in San Antonio, the media spotlight isn't as bright as it is being in certain places like a Miami. You know, everything that came with how this team was put together. Their team was put together through the draft. So the way that people feel is the right way. And ours was put together a little differently. So the conversation is different. We understand that. We're not trying to be the Spurs. We're not going to get the same treatment and same talk. Vice versa, I'm sure they don't want to be us. So it's just the nature of the beast. It's a part of the world we live in. We can't concern ourself with what people say on the outside about our team. I think our team has done pretty decent. In our three years together, we've been in The Finals three years in a row. So we're doing something right. Q. Dwyane, last summer Ray kind of bought into what you guys wanted to do in 2010. He left money and years to come here for this round. If you were him, would you think it was almost like a 100‑game preseason to get to this point? Being back on that stage, have you gotten a sense what that means to Ray at all? DWYANE WADE: Yeah. Obviously, I think we went to the Eastern Conference Finals in my second year and lost a Game 7. It was kind of like getting through that next year to get right back to the Eastern Conference Finals versus the same team, to do it all over again. It kind of felt like we could have fast‑forwarded everything and just did that. So I'm sure he felt the same way. The greatest thing I can say is after Game 7 we were all sitting in the middle of the ropes, and Ray was just smiling so big and he said, "Last year I was on the outside of these ropes. And this year I'm in the inside. And this is what I came here for." We're glad that he can sacrifice the way he did and take a lot of criticism as well to come and be a part of an organization, of a team, that he felt was special and that can really use his talents and his ability. And it worked. It worked out for him. He now has another opportunity to play in another Finals. Q. Dwyane, the people have doubted you in the past when you were young. This past series, the Indiana series, was obviously tough up and down. Did you have doubts at all going through it? And how gratifying in the end mentally after you go through that grind of that series was Game 7 for you? DWYANE WADE: Well, obviously when you're not performing at the level that you've become accustomed to, the game of basketball that comes so natural, comes so easy at times can be the most difficult and the toughest thing to play in, and to be a part of. So it's always moments where you question certain things. But for me the biggest thing was to try to make an impact in the game. I wanted to make an impact offensively. I want to make an impact defensively. And everything else. So at the end of the day, I wanted to be able to be there to give my team a chance to win the game. I know when I'm playing the game of basketball well, we're even more of a special team than we are when I'm not. And so I take a lot of pride in it, and I take a lot on my shoulders when I'm not playing that way. No question about it. It's just a part of life. It's just a part of it. Doubt creeps in at certain times. You just have to get doubt out. Get doubt out your house. Get doubt out your mind as quick as possible. So it's not easy, but we're professionals. This is our job. And my job was to find a way. And I found the way to be effective in Game 7. Q. Coming through in Game 7, when the doubt is gone, how gratifying was that for you? DWYANE WADE: My meal tasted a little better after the game, you know? I'll tell you that. It was a good feeling to obviously be in that moment. When you come through in those moments. Like I told Chris the night before, I spent a lot of time with Chris in his house, we're neighbors, and I told him I said, "Chris, it didn't matter if you scored 30 points a game up until this point. If you get in Game 7 and score two points and we lose, you'll feel just as bad or worse than you feel now. So it's all about Game 7, man. It's all about this moment. Let's do whatever we can, do what we've got to do until things turn around for us." I thought his mindset of being aggressive was a change to hopefully bring into this series, and my mindset as well. So hopefully there was a turning point. If not, doing whatever we can to make sure we're part of the team and helping our teammates to win this championship that we're trying to get. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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