A day after the Heat’s brass pledged its support for Dwyane Wade playing in the Olympics, Team USA men’s basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said Wade could recapture his competitive fire by competing in the Beijing Games.
”He has a lot to prove to people and himself about this comeback,” Colangelo told The Miami Herald on Friday.
Colangelo’s challenge to Wade?
”I want him to have a little bit of an attitude about coming back from this injury,” Colangelo said he told Wade during a recent visit in Chicago.
Colangelo said ‘’some people may suspect he won’t or can’t” return to form from this injury.
“When he led [the Heat] to a championship, the tiger was in his eye. Through what’s happened with the injury, etc., he wasn’t quite the same guy mentally. This is a great opportunity for him to have an edge.”
The 12-man Olympic roster will be announced Monday in Chicago. Colangelo stopped short of saying Wade has a spot but talked about him in glowing terms: “I would be happy to have him on this team. I have great respect for him.”
A source close to Wade said Thursday that Wade had been awarded a spot.
Wade missed 31 games last season because of chronic soreness in his surgically repaired left knee. He had shockwave therapy on his knee in March and missed the final 21 games. Wade also endured the toughest season of his career as the Heat finished with a league-worst 15-67 record.
Colangelo said besides delivering a pointed message to Wade, he wanted to gauge his physical progress.
”It wasn’t to make a determination on his skills,” Colangelo said. “I know who he is as a player. What I saw was very encouraging.”
Colangelo left impressed with Wade’s explosiveness, but added that his timing was “off.”
”That’s to be expected,” Colangelo said.
Colangelo said on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the best), Wade’s trainer Tim Grover would give Wade an eight.
Colangelo said Wade has plenty of time to return to game shape. Team USA reconvenes for minicamp Friday in Las Vegas.
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