There's a Nike commercial that came out a couple of months ago: Spike Lee is sitting on stairs reading to children about Michael Jordan. He gives a 20-second basketball biography of Jordan, then makes a dramatic pause.
"But the story doesn't end there, because someone, somewhere, was practicing."
The children get excited and ask whom this mysterious "practicer" is. Spike closes the book and stares into the camera as the screen fades to black and the words "Are You The One?" appear.
I knew then, the first time I saw that commercial, that there was only one person who could answer "yes" to that question, and now the mainstream sports media has come around to my side.
Finally, after eight years of outperforming expectations, sportswriters have begun to recognize Dwyane Wade as one of the best basketball players in the world.
Having watched Dwyane Wade for seven of those eight seasons (I never did see him play as a sophomore in high school), I feel confident going one step further -- Dwyane Wade is The One, the second coming of Michael Jordan.
First, let me give you a brief history of Dwyane Wade as I have experienced him. It all starts at Richards High School in south suburban Chicago, where Dwyane Wade and I received our secondary education. I wish I could say that I knew from the beginning that he was a special player who would dominated the NBA someday, but to me, he was just the best player on our team, someone who, if he was lucky, would get a Division I scholarship and play for Bradley or some similar Mid-Major.
He just seemed like one of those guys high schools have -- the 6'3" athletic kid who can play pretty well but isn't really anything special. Here's the thing about Dwyane Wade, though. No matter what I read or heard about other players we played and how good they were, there was never any doubt that Dwyane Wade was the best player on the court. It didn't matter if you were Eddy Curry and heralded as a lottery pick, when game time rolled around, Dwyane Wade was better than you. Period.
Two high school seasons, two college seasons and two NBA seasons later, there haven't been many times that I've watched Dwyane Wade play when he wasn't the best player on the court. Whatever you want to call it, desire, heart, love, will, Dwyane Wade has it and no one else does, except one man -- Michael Jordan. It's the will power to score, no matter what the cost, no matter what the pressure. If Dwyane Wade wants it, Dwyane Wade gets it.
Now don't get me wrong, I have no idea if the Heat will win the championship this year or even manage to beat the Pistons. Jordan went five years without even winning a playoff series, and Dwyane Wade is still nowhere near Jordan's level. But this year is only the beginning.
All I'm saying is this: in five years we will look at the NBA and there will be no doubt in anyone's mind about who the best player in the league is. And in 15 years, there will be no doubt in anyone's mind that Dwyane Wade is one of the five best players in human history.
He may not be perfect. LeBron, after all, is more athletic and has better court vision; Kobe has a more polished game; and Amare Stoudamire is the greatest physical specimen to have ever existed. But all that pales in comparison to Dwyane Wade's will and tenacity.
Maybe this all just sounds like a bunch of ridiculous mumbo jumbo. Force of will can't make a basketball go through a basket. Maybe not, but force of will, combined with a skilled, athletic and fearless beast of a man, almost certainly can. After all these years, I've never seen anyone successfully stop Dwyane Wade, and like Jordan before him, my guess is that no one ever will.
