Now that Dwyane Wade has been anointed the Second Coming of Michael Jordan, this may be the time to dispel a myth.
Many Kansas University basketball fans believe Wade performed poorly in his final game as a collegian, and that’s simply not true.
Wade was the key player for the surprising Marquette University team that wore the Cinderella label in the 2003 NCAA Final Four at the New Orleans Superdome.
The 6-foot-5 junior had posted a rare triple-double – 29 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists – in an Elite Eight romp over Kentucky, and the mass of media at the Final Four fawned at his feet.
Everybody loves the glass-slipper guys, yet to expect Wade to repeat that feat against Kansas in the semifinals was unreasonable, almost like predicting a pitcher will hurl back-to-back no-hitters.
Sure enough, Wade did not post a triple-double against the Jayhawks. But he did score a team-high 19 points to go with six rebounds, four assists and only one turnover.
If the Golden Eagles had won, Wade’s numbers would have been reported positively. The problem was that Kansas clobbered Marquette, 94-61, and the lopsided margin magnified the fact Wade had fallen shy of a Kentucky repeat.
Wade had been OK that early April day in the big spotlight in the Big Easy, but his teammates were awful – particularly point guard Travis Diener, who missed 10 of 11 shots and committed eight turnovers.
Even if Wade had recorded another triple-double against the Jayhawks, the Eagles wouldn’t have won – just as the Miami Heat wouldn’t have won the NBA championship if Wade had to do it single-handedly.
That isn’t to say the Jayhawks – particularly Kirk Hinrich – gave Wade a blank check on the Superdome floor. KU’s defense was sound, yet Wade made a respectable seven of 15 shots from the field and took eight shots from the free-throw line. He made only half those charities, but that was him, not KU’s defense.
Weeks later, after Wade had declared for the NBA Draft, many talent evaluators couldn’t see past that Kansas game and projected him as a middle first-round selection.
So when the Heat tapped Wade with the fifth pick – after LeBron James, Darko Milicic, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh – eyebrows arched.
“The first big shocker of the draft,” one writer penned, noting the Heat desperately needed an outside shooter and that wasn’t Wade’s strength.
Then again, saying Wade isn’t a good outside shooter is like stating Nolan Ryan didn’t have a good change-up. Ryan didn’t need a change-up because he had the great heater, and Wade doesn’t need an outside shot because he can’t be defended inside.
Many mock drafters thought the Heat would go for Chris Kaman, a rebounding machine from Western Michigan who was quickly snapped up by the L.A. Clippers with pick No. 6.
If the Heat had taken Kaman, would the Clippers have snatched Wade? And if Wade still were available at No. 7, would the Chicago Bulls have taken him and touted him as a potential Michael Jordan?
We’ll never know. Not that the Bulls are complaining. They’re happy they chose Hinrich.
