The following is an Ask Ira question that was posed to Ira Winderman, who writes regularly for NBCSports.com and covers the Miami Heat and the NBA for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. So him being from Miami and all, please excuse that he doesn't know the first thing about basketball.
Q: Ira, I’m not sure people realize how much Wade and James will push each other’s games on the defensive side. Anyone who has watched them compete against each other knows they will continue attempting to one-up each other. Every spectacular block or defensive sequence by James will push Wade to match or beat it on the next defensive sequence. Just because they now play for the same team, doesn’t mean we lose out on them competing to outdo the other. — Shaddy.
Sit down, Ira. I got this one.
Hey, Shaddy! Thanks for the, er, question, or is it just that the man-love between Wade and Lebron is just so contagious down there in South Beach?
Back to your question/comment/flirtation... Yes, there used to be some great tete-a-tetes (that is french for head-to-head) between Wade and Lebron, and Lebron seemed to get the best of many of those contests.
However, since Lebron decided to give up being a man, such competitive displays will certainly be a thing of the past. It should be clear from Lebron's "Decision" that he went to Miami to avoid working hard and carrying any load. He clearly chose to announce his decision to millions of viewers during a primetime, 1 hour special on ESPN so that everyone would know that he was done working for his fame and money and so that no one would ask questions like this one going forward.
Anyway, the answer is yes, Wade and Lebron will gamble too much on defense, and it will be just another reason not to put your money on the Miami Hype. If you don't believe me, check the following video, and without a doubt, there will be more footage to add to the video after this NBA season.
As they say, the video doesn't lie.
