Gilbert Arenas and Dwyane Wade had some good battles on the court back in the day, but the truth is that neither liked playing each other. Their competitive spirit always came out, but against each other, they would always give their best. On The OGs podcast, Udonis Haslem confirmed to Arenas that Wade didn't like playing against him, and the former Washington Wizards guard shared the same sentiments and told a story to back up his claim.
“The beginning of the season started, it was after the 03-04 season because he was on the 2004 Team USA and they lost at the Olympics. We’re coming into the 04, 05 season and everybody’s talking about the Heat,” Arenas said on the podcast. “Shaq went over there and I said ‘We’ll just treat D-Wade like they did him at the Olympics, just play a zone defense.' Then you’re looking at the scoreboards because Miami is coming close, we got three games ahead, and he’s got 40 points, 45, 45… Did he circle the date against us? Because he’s coming towards us.”
Arenas continued his story and shared that when it was time for them to match up, he called the hotel that Wade was staying at to smooth things over, but it looked like it didn't work.
“I called the hotel like ‘Hey is Dwyane there? Hey man listen this is Gil, that stuff I don’t know if you saw it about two weeks ago… I ain’t say it like that, just to let you know.' Then at the warmup, he didn’t look like the phone call helped,” Arenas said. “I remember at halftime, Larry Hughes is like ‘If you’re gonna start talking s–t about players, you guard him’ … That was the last time I ever said anything about a player.”
The 2004 season was Dwyane Wade's breakout year
Dwayne Wade's second season in the league could be considered his breakout year, leading the Heat to the first seed in the Eastern Conference and to the playoffs averaging 24.1 points per game. Wade finished on the All-NBA second team and the All-Defensive second team.
In the second round of the playoffs that season, the Heat and Wizards met in the playoffs, and Wade got the final word, sweeping them while averaging 31 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists. Unfortunately, Wade and the Heat did not make it to the NBA Finals that year after losing 4-3 to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Wade got his revenge the next season, going to the NBA Finals and defeating the Dallas Mavericks.
As for Arenas, in 2004 he averaged 25.5 points per game and made the All-NBA third team. The Wizards defeated the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs but were not able to overcome Wade and the Heat in the second round.
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