Dwyane Wade: “Last Year Wasn’t Fun…It’s Amazing We Made It To The Finals”

After appearing in four consecutive NBA Finals, it’s unlikely Dwyane Wade returns to the championship series for the 2014-15 campaign. Gone is the force LeBron James, and with him a lot of the pressure to win it all every year. Wade tells Ethan K. Skolnick of Bleacher Report how “last year wasn’t fun,” and how amazed Wade is the Heat even made the Finals in 2014.

When Skolnick asks Wade what’s different, he has a hard time explaining it except to acknowledge that last year wasn’t exactly a bed of roses, which is why he was so surprised to return to the NBA Finals:

Wade just hasn’t been quite this direct before.

Why wasn’t it fun?

The outsized attention? The relentless pressure?

“I don’t know,” Wade said. “It’s hard to say, man, because you want it. We wanted it. So it’s hard to say that. You don’t know exactly what’s going to come with it, but we put ourselves in that position. But sometimes you can put too much on yourself, all of us, and it becomes a black cloud around. Last year wasn’t fun. I mean, there was no stretch of it [that was] fun. That whole season, to me, it’s amazing we made it to the Finals. It’s just honest.

“Just this year, coming in, I can see, even in the coaches, there’s just a different renewed focus and energy. No one knows what it’s going to lead to. No one knows if that’s going to lead to a Finals win or Finals loss or not the Finals at all. But right now it’s good for everyone to come in every day and want to be here.”

Before you mistake those words as an implicit indictment of James, remember that the two of them won a pair of titles together and made four Finals appearances in a row. Wade said LeBron made the right choice in going back to Cleveland. He said that despite having opted out of a deal this summer that would have paid him $11 million more over the next two seasons just so the Heat could be flexible enough in free agency to try and put some more talent around James.

Wade’s not castigating LeBron, or his time in Miami, when he says the final year wasn’t fun and this year offers a feeling of refreshment. No, it’s just the grind of four consecutive regular seasons, plus long runs in the playoffs to the Finals, the constant pressure to excel, the unending media attention and scrutiny, that wears away at you, and it probably wouldn’t be much fun for any of us after four years’ time.*

No, Wade’s talking about the challenge LeBron’s departure brings, almost like the Heat’s Big Three got stuck in a rut, and James signing with Cleveland kicked him and the remaining members of those Heat championship teams — including Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers — out of that rut:

Rather, when he speaks of renewed enthusiasm, he’s referring specifically to the opportunity that comes from altered, even tapered expectations, and increased opportunities.

Right?

“Yeah, you’re right,” Wade said.

[…]

“It’s not saying, ‘Oh, I’m excited this person left so I can do that.’ It’s more, ‘OK, it’s a challenge,’ and as athletes we not only love challenges, but we need them. Especially if we want to continue to rise.

“Like I said, I wouldn’t take anything back. Even though there were a lot of moments where everyone wasn’t happy, I wouldn’t take the success back that we had in our four years. It’s just that now, I think it’s great that everything happens for a reason—and I think right now for this organization and certain individuals that [are] here, it’s just a good time for it.”

Again, Wade’s not dissing James, the pair remain close. Wade’s just excited for some new personnel, new expectations, and new challenges.

*Something to ponder the next time you’re making a LeBron James meme: ‘Bron lives with that pressure and that spotlight EVERY DAY and has since he was 18. We’d go crazy after just a year of it, and after four years of the Heatles and the media that flocked to them, Wade, Bosh and the rest of those Miami teams were just as ready for the change as LeBron was. But LeBron can’t EVER escape it, just like Michael Jordan couldn’t after a couple years in the NBA. The media can suck you dry and this is coming from a member of the media. Remember that the next time LeBron does something that pisses you off.