| FanHouse's Interview with Dwyane Wade |
| Thursday, 10 July 2008 16:39 | |
|
Dwyane Wade: Good morning, Will. Thanks for having me on, man. WB: For there not being any games on, the NBA is pretty hectic right now, and suddenly the East looks pretty tough, especially with yesterday's craziness. What are your thoughts on where the Heat stand for 2008-09 in terms of addressing needs at the draft and free agency to get back to where you guys were a few years ago? DW: Well, we were very excited about the guys we picked up in the draft this year. You know Beasley has a chance to be special -- a great player -- and Chalmers is a guy that could shock a lot of people. I can't believe he even fell to the second round, to the 34th pick, so we're very, very excited about getting those two guys. I think we approach free agency very cautiously as well. We have a couple names, a couple guys we're targeting. But it's all about putting the right pieces together, not about the big names every summer, it's about adding the right pieces to the team and Coach Riley has done a great job with that. WB: Yeah, a few days ago you'd mentioned -- at your basketball camp I think -- that you wanted to be less involved with setting up the offense, and that you guys wanted to look for a guy who could "make plays". You think Mario Chalmers is that type of guy? DW: Well, I think he can be. No question about it, he can be molded to be. But I think we need to put a veteran guard around him to really help him out and fast-track his progress. It's kind of like when I came in, I played point guard out of college and they brought Bimbo Coles in, a veteran guy to really help me with that transition. I think it was misunderstood though, I do want to handle the ball, no question about it, and I love having the ball in my hands, but I don't want to go back to my rookie year where I have to be the point guard and bring the ball up all the time. I want to be able to work on the wings and different areas of the court. WB: Yeah, of course -- I didn't mean to imply that you didn't want the ball – I think everyone in Miami wants the ball in your hands. [Awkward laughter all around] Alright, you're blogging these days, or diarying, or whatever they're referring to it at the Sun-Times...wanna tell us about that? DW: Yeah, man. I think it's an unbelievable opportunity for our fans to hear some of the things that are going on behind the scenes from my point of view or from an Olympic point of view. So I'm doing these diaries – I ain't gonna say blogs – on and off camera just trying to give them a little inside scoop behind the scenes following us on our road to redemption to the Gold Medal. WB: Cool. I noticed you're, and I'm not sure if that's Sun-Times nounage (Ed. Note: It is so a word) or not, avoiding the term "blogging". Do you ever read other blogs out there or do you ever google yourself to see what rumors are floating around, just out of personal curiosity? DW: Oh, no question. We all do. A lot of people, you know, look on different sites. Some people use if for motivation and some people just want to hear what's been said, whether it's been good or not. If I read a blog, I probably read Gilbert [Arenas]'s blog, man, because you never know what that guy's gonna say. And I know he's one of the first ones, in terms of professional athletes, or NBA players, to start a blog. And so I...No question, in this world we live in today, gossip and rumors are a part of the world, so you've check out and see what's being said about not only you but others and go from there. WB: Most definitely. I saw in your first diary the other day that you said LeBron is a real prankster on and off the court. That kind of contrasts with the corporate Nike image. Is he just that wide open in person when you get down to it? DW: If you're around LeBron, you'll see, man, you know, he's not a serious guy unless he's on the court. When he's off the court, he's loud, he's funny, he makes everybody feel comfortable. He's not a guy who walks around like 'I'm LeBron James, I'm the next coming and don't mess with me.' He walks around like he's a friend to everybody and to anybody. And you know, we enjoy that LeBron because we know he's going to be the one that says stuff that everyone is going to want to say, or start it off at least. And with him being one of my good friends, not only in the NBA but in life period, I enjoy him and his personality off the court. WB: Well, your draft class, with you and Bosh and Melo and Bron it seems like you've got a pretty tight core group of guys. Is that a group you envision Team USA keeping together for the next few years? DW: Well, you know, when you go through a summer with different people and you get to know them and things about them and get to know their familes, and going through this process of winning – and even sometimes through the process of losing – you we all gain these friendships and these long lasting relationships because you're kind of bonded at the hip. So I'm sure a lot of relationships will already come out; but the good thing is the relationships have already been established from the last 2-3 years with us all being a part of the Olympic team. WB: Speaking of relationships, I notice you've been hanging out with Zo a lot these days. If I understand this right, you're on the inner circle of the Zo Summer Groove now? Is that right? DW: Yessir, yessir. Me and Alonzo have teamed up to partner up in the ZSG and we're introducing me this year. And you know, it's really for both our foundations. I mean, I went to Alonzo and told him 'I really want to be a part of this, not for the fanfare, but because I want to do something for Miami and you wants to do something for Miami and so I think it would be better if we team up', and we're that much stronger for what we can do with our efforts. So you know, we've teamed up this weekend and that kicks off really tomorrow with a golf event and ends Sunday with the All Star Game, and actually, my friends LeBron and Chris Paul and Caron Butler will come out and be a part of it. It's just going to be a great weekend, so you know right now I'm sitting in the G2 Lounge and as the commericials say, I'm "living the G2 life" right now.  I'm in here playing Wii bowling and pool and Alonzo's on his way in now so we can play against each other. And you know, it's all for our charities – Alonzo Mourning Charities, Dwyane Wade Foundation – it's all for a good cause. WB: Well, hey, I've been watching the vids online at drinkG2.com, and I just gotta know, the G2 Lounge – I know you guys had one setup at the Super Bowl and had one set up at the All Star Game – is there a permanent G2 Lounge in Miami? Or is it always temporary? DW: No, it's not permanent. They actually put this lounge up – I just came in to see it today – you walk in it looks like Miami, it feels like Miami, it's a calm demeanor in here. It's just real laid back; I got up at seven-something this morning and I'm still laid back, chillin'. I got ESPN on one channel and we got tv's all over the place. Best Buy did a great job of coming in and hooking things up in here with Gatorade. You know, it all works out – G2 Lounge has been great everywhere they had it from the Super Bowl to the All Star Game and now in Miami. WB: And obviously the bar is well stocked [DW: Well-stocked.] with low-carb, electrolyte replenishing goodness. DW: Oh, no question, man. And I think one thing about G2 that's been catching onto people is that this is a drink not only for athletes but for anyone who has an active lifestyle. And it's not only low calories, but it's a hydrator. And it's been really catching on. I've seen so many more people drinking G2 and getting away from drinking so much Gatorade and Propel's and they've been adding G2 into the mix and I'm proud of that,being one of the faces of that drink, makes me feel good about the direction we're going in. WB: Right on, right on. Random question on the way out: what's playing on Dwyane Wade's Ipod these days? DW: On my Ipod? Well, I have 18,000 songs on my iPod [WB: Get out, man!] – yeah, so I'm able to play almost anything. WB: Anything heavy in your rotation lately? DW: Well, I think the main thing is I'm into the R&B/hip-hop culture and I know most of the guys, like Kanye from Chicago, I'm always rocking Kanye, you know, Jeezy from Atlanta, R. Kelly's from Chicago, Common's from Chicago, to name a few. So, I know all the guys and women that are big into R&B, so I'm fans of them and friends of them as well. WB: Good deal. Well, look, Dwyane, on behalf of FanHouse and AOL, I want to thank you for taking the time out to talk to us this morning. DW: Not a problem, not a problem. Thanks for having us on and worrying about and caring about our cause, we really appreciate it. WB: Hey, absolutely, and don't work out up a sweat in the G2 lounge or anything. DW: Haha. Don't worry, I won't. Read on http://nba.fanhouse.com/ |
