I’ve found it easy these past few years to dislike Dwayne Wade. Even before all the falling down theatrics and the fouling foolishness of the Dallas series last year, I just didn’t like him. Partly it came from one particular Pistons/Heat game. Partly it came from… I don’t know where it came from. He seemed to me to embody a lot of what is worst in the game today - a too easy ride to the top having done nothing to earn it. I found myself lapsing into convenient and pat, and frankly prejudicial ways of thinking about him as a freakishly good athlete with a head only useful for holding up layers of gold chains.

Then I realized what I was doing and it did not feel good. I decided to try and figure out who this young man is and started reading what I could about him. The attached is a really interesting recent interview. It’s long, but worth a read.

Dwyane Wade: Face of the Revived NBA - Newsweek Society - MSNBC.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15402832/site/newsweek/)

The thing I am quickest to admire (often to the exclusion of other things) is intelligence and competence. What I’m starting to figure out about our young Mr. Wade is that he has both in abundance. He is one of those rare people who (for better or worse in a personal sense – not sure) is able to step outside themselves and see their talents as tools to be leveraged in the building of an empire. In some fundamental way it’s no different than what an actor or a politician does, certainly no different from what Michael Jordan did and continues to do.

I suspect that it won’t take much more than one phony looking fall that leaves him limping around on defense only to see him explode on offense for me to start disliking Wade again. Maybe I’ll never really like him, but I am starting to have a fair amount of respect for him.

Yeah, I can't stand him either.

I know what you are talking about, dba. There are certain people in basketball as in all of life that we just do not take to, for whatever reason.

In sports, it is because they are particularly successful against the teams we root for, and sometimes there is more to it even than that.

I have heard that it is not a good idea to put our own picture on our business cards. There are a ton of people out there who might get a bad first impression, even for no good reason, and you might be missing business without even knowing why.

Michael, Cousey, Kobey and Wade all fall into the category of being successful against teams that I follow at the time.

Now Karl Malone and Cartright of the Bulls, I detested them for being in my opinion dirty players.

I never had the bad feeling against Magic Johnson though. Probably because of that big grin and the obvious fun he had playing the game.

Maybe, too, because he was a good kisser (Isaiah and Mark) :sssh: :sssh: :sssh: !!

Wade is the ref's pet! And maybe David Stern should adopt him.

I LIKE Wade. After Larry Johnson, Glen Robinson, ALonzo Mourning...Wade is a player you can respect AND like. The guy does more than flop around. He is as tough a competitor as they come. If he's limping around and then takes you off the dribble because you think he's hurt...more power to him.

I don't respect all the injury-faking, but aside from that, I agree that he's a respectable and even likeable superstar.

Today's superstar is much more concerned with his profile and marketability than competitiveness. Winning becomes about getting paid and not respect.

I like Wade, but I don't like this direction in the sport where the players are willing participants in a farce geared towards maximizing profit.

I like Wade, but I don't like this direction in the sport where the players are willing participants in a farce geared towards maximizing profit.
Its easy to say that when you are on the outside looking in. That whole thing is bigger than Wade. Bigger than even Stern.