When Dwyane Wade played last season, he played well — 20.8 points a game on a career best .588 true shooting percentage, with a PER still of 22. The issue was more how much he played, just 54 games. His knees are just not the same and need a lot of time off and rest, and even the three games a week pace of the NBA Finals seemed to wear his body down.
Next season Miami is going to have to ask more of him, so Wade is trying to make sure there is less of him — he’s dieting.
Wade, out as his youth camp, spoke to Ethan J. Skolnick of Bleacher Report about the upcoming season.
Dwyane Wade says his diet has been "1 of hardest things I've ever done." Especially the vegetables. Lighter now than at '13 training camp
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) August 1, 2014
Dwyane Wade on the doubt that he can still handle a bigger load: "I need it. I need it." Sees it as an energizing challenge.
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) August 1, 2014
Dropping weight will help his knees, but only so much. He’s 32 and there’s not a lot of cartilage left. He can only do so much.
That said Wade is happy in Miami, that’s his town, and like Chris Bosh they think this team can still do a lot of damage even without LeBron James.
But that’s not what anyone wants to hear, so these are the tweets on Wade talking about LeBron James and his decision to return to Cleveland.
Dwyane Wade on the doubt that he can still handle a bigger load: "I need it. I need it." Sees it as an energizing challenge.
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) August 1, 2014
When LeBron left, Wade quickly connected with Bosh overseas, to see where he stood. Bosh told Wade he'd decide in an hour.
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) August 1, 2014
Dwyane Wade on his relationship with LeBron: "We're friends."
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) August 1, 2014
Wade’s ability to carry more load for Miami next season is one of the keys for that team. They need him to.