Chicago Bulls star Dwyane Wade knows plenty about playing with other superstars and the attention it brings.
Re-signing with the Miami Heat in 2010 along with LeBron James and Chris Bosh had everyone in a frenzy.
The response to the negative comments spewed towards the team was to embrace them, and use them as fuel to go on a 21 game win streak.
“Everybody wanted to beat us, so everybody was playing their tail off against us. It took time for us to get to the game that we wanted to get to.”
They did so as the league's villains, but recalling his experience, Wade says it was the wrong approach to take.
“I think the biggest thing is, what I say is just enjoy it. One thing we did wrong our first year was we played into the villain role because people was not liking that we was together and we tried to play into that role. That’s not why we started playing basketball – we started playing basketball because we enjoyed it and we loved it.”
Wade can see and understand Kevin Durant‘s situation, and he even knows how the constant negative shots can affect him mentally. After going down a similar road for a few years, he has a message for Durant.
“Enjoy what you're doing and forget the opinions.”
“When you play that way, you win that way. That’s the one thing, don’t play into the role of what people expect of you.”
“You have the ability to do whatever you want in life and you made a decision, so live with your decision. Enjoy your decision and just enjoy playing basketball.”
One thing is certain, Durant and the Warriors coming together means more work, not less.
“It makes it more challenging. It makes it more interesting around the league, but as a player, I respect his decision to do what he wanted to do.”
Instant success doesn't come because of the names on paper. There is a process to learn how to play together, and it takes sacrifice.
It would benefit Durant to take a page out of his former Team USA teammate's book.
(h/t Basketball Insiders)
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