There is plenty to like about Dwyane Wade. Nice kid. Excellent ball player when healthy. Good teammate. Not a jerk. Has yet to kill the Celtics in any particularly huge situation.
But his take prior to last night's lottery drawing in New Jersey left reason for scorn nonetheless.
As reported by RealGM's Andrew Perna:
Dwyane Wade, representing the Miami Heat at the 2008 NBA Draft Lottery, said that he believes the team deserves the top overall pick in this June's Draft.
When asked whether or not he brought a good luck charm with him to New Jersey, Wade said, "It's not about luck, we feel we deserve the top pick."
Perhaps it isn't Wade's fault. Perhaps it's just a sad reflection of the direction the lower echelon of the league has gone over the past few years that we have even reached this point.
Deserved the first pick, the Heat supposedly did. Sounds somewhat like "earned." Wonder how they did that.
Maybe it was by shutting their star down for substantial portions of the season. Or maybe it had to do with their coach slapping a 41-cent stamp on the season by December. Or fielding a D-League roster for the final month of the season.
These days, practically openly tanking has become a meritorious course of action. Ugh.