Wade's World

Or is it? It turns out the NBA’s taking another shot at the dress-code, but this time… on the court. If the league implements what’s being rumoured, there will be o more panty-ho-… err, tights.

Sorry, Wade…



Personally, I think they should just ban Eddy Curry from wearing them, but that’s just me.

Anyway, on Wednesday, you knew it was going to happen. Dwyane Wade erupted in the 4th quarter – going on a personal 9-0 run, to score 16 of his 37 points in the final frame, as the Heat came back from 16 down to steal the win.

98, 94

Just before the game, we learned that Shaq was questionable with a leg injury. I heard one reporter mention to Sam Mitchell that the big “Diesel” had his knee drained, but I hadn’t heard anything before that. So I took off on a pre-tip mission to find the Heat’s Media Relations guy.

I went to the visitor’s dressing room, and found my security-buddies doing their thing. Standing on either side of the door.

“Hey, do you guys know where I can find the Heat’s Media guy?”
“He’s right there,” one of them said, pointing to a man standing about 7 inches away from me.

“Hey there, my name’s Zack Cooper, I’m with the Fan 590… I just heard that Shaq got his knee drained. Can you give me any info on that?”
“Who said that?” The Media Relations guy replied.
“I heard another reporter mention it.”
“Well, I can’t really tell you anything other than he’s a game-time decision…”
“With… a drained knee?”
“With a leg injury?”
“Can you be any more specific?”
“Nope. You can talk to Coach Riley after the game, though.”

Hmmm. Well, the post-game questioning won’t really help my pre-game reports. Oh well. “Leg injury” it is, then.

So yeah… No Shaq, no Alonzo Mourning, and no Chris Bosh. Right now, it appears he’s going to sit out the rest of the season with that “badly” sprained thumb. Probably for the best.
During the game, I text-messaged the other Fan reporter working the game.

“If it’s cool with you, I’d like to cover the Heat tonight… I wanna talk to Wade and Payton.”

Two minutes later, I get this reply:

“Cool. I hear Wade’s down with his media.”

That’s now the joke around the station. While I do find it funny (see: “Lebron’s Down With His Media”), my response was:

“Dick.”

So after the game, I do as planned… go talk to Coach Pat Riley, then head into the Heat locker room.

First up, Gary Payton. A player I grew up loving. My brother used to adore the solid pick-and-roll tandem of Utah’s Stockton and Malone, while I followed the flash and funk of Seattle’s Payton and Kemp. Those were my guys. Just ask anyone that I played in NBA Jam. They felt the fury.

So reporters are asking the man once known as “The Glove” the standard questions. I got into the fray, as well:

“Gary, it seems in that 4th quarter you guys changed up the game defensively. While the Raptors were getting inside throughout the first 3, you guys really buckled down in the 4th, and kept them on the perimeter.”
“Well yeah, that’s because we were [inaudible] picks, we weren’t letting them get open, come free and let Mike [James] go to the basket… We were making him get off the ball, and that was a good thing for us. Make him get off the ball, and make the other people do things with the basketball. Then they start making jump shots, and when they’re missing them, we get the rebound and run it back at them.”

The Raptors TV reporter and I went back and forth with another line of questioning, until I asked:

“…and also, you guys are the hottest team in the NBA since February 1st, is that timing… you guys are just starting to click or… how do you explain that?”

(They’re literally the best team in the NBA in the last two months. After beating the Raptors on that night, they improved to 20-5 since Feb. 1. San Antonio’s next at 20-6)

Gary’s response:

“That’s just timing. I mean, I think we’re just getting in our role. We had to feel each other out, there’s like 8 or 9 new guys. You know, that’s a lot of new guys on one team to try to get into a rhythm in like a month. So we got into our rhythm after about 3, 4 months and now we’re playing together, and believing in each other. I think now we’ve just got more confidence in each other.”

As everyone else started to scatter… I wanted to know if he still kept in touch with “The Reign Man”

“Gary… you still talk to Shawn Kemp at all?”
“Nah, I haven’t… I haven’t talked to him in a while. I haven’t talked to him in a little bit.”

At least there’s always video games.

But back to Wade. It’s certainly his world, and we’re just living in it. I’ve been in locker rooms where guys take their time… but Wade was taking his TIME. After all the other players had left, we got a peak of Mr. Sean John (he models for P.Diddy’s clothing line) fixing him tie, or his collar, or his shoes, every time a certain door swung open.

Not only does he get away with jersey-tugging in the game, but he also roped us all into waiting for him for about 25 minutes.

With that being said, the FAN’s post-game show was already underway, and I had only enough time to get a few quick clips and run back. I didn’t even ask him a single question. While I was a little disappointed in myself, seeing as how I love his game so much, the job has to come first… And it did.

==
Tonight, I’ll be sitting courtside for the game against the Suns… I’ll try and get a question into “Captain (Kid) Canada,” but I know it’s going to be a frenzy.

I’ll be at the station on Sunday, so no Chris Paul questions (damn)… but on Tuesday, against the Celtics, I’ll be making my Broadcast News debut. I’ll be doing what I do for the FAN, but I get paid a little on the side for filing a 30-second post-game report (one which will be played across the country).

==

After buying a $160 pair of “Mo Pete’s” yesterday… the side stuff is very much welcomed.