As the Olympics loom ever closer, Dwyane Wade is dealing with pain.
Rest easy, Miami Heat fans: His problematic left knee is perfectly fine. In fact, his physical health is as good as it's been in years.
No, every time the four-time All-Star and soon-to-be-two-time Olympian takes the court these days, he's finally getting to release some of the frustration that's been bottling up over the past two seasons, when the Heat made a stunning freefall from being the NBA's best team to the one with its worst record.
And playing that way, he says, is a very good thing.
"I'm just out there playing angry, more so than anything, for a lot of different reasons,"
Wade said on a conference call with Miami reporters from Macau on Wednesday, before he, coach Mike Krzyzewski and his USA Basketball teammates held practice. "Coach K actually wants me to play that way, so it's good. But I'm just out there playing. I'm very focused. I know how hard I worked, so I'm not out to prove that I worked hard or that I'm healthy. I've told everybody I'm healthy for a long time. I'm not into proving it to guys anymore. I think my play will show the rest."
So far, so good. Wade scored 20 points in the Americans' first exhibition game of the pre-Olympic season last week, helping the U.S. ease past overmatched Canada 120-65.
Of course, that wasn't enough for Wade. He's still angry, after seeing the Heat finish 15-67 this season and believing that some may have questioned if he truly merited a spot on this Olympic team.
"It's going to be like that probably all year, for a while,"
Wade said. "That anger, that focus, getting back to total respect. Any doubt that people have in their mind about you as a player, you want to erase it. Just like when I first came into the league, I played angry. So it's that same kind of feeling on the court. And right now for the Olympic team, we all should be playing angry. People believe in our talent, but a lot of people still have doubts about us."
The Olympic tuneups - and chances to silence any remaining doubters - continue Thursday when the U.S. meets Turkey, starting a run of four games in six nights for the gold-medal favorites. That's a lot of basketball for someone who hadn't played since early March, when the Heat shut him down, citing ongoing pain issues with the knee.
But Wade doesn't sound one bit worried. He began a vigorous rehab schedule in early May, with an eye on being tiptop in time for Beijing.
"I'm just trying to get better and better every day,"
Wade said. "It feels good. I look forward to every day to see how it's going to respond and it's been responding well."
His confidence is high, too.
Wade, in his most recent behind-the-scenes blog about his Olympic experiences for The Associated Press, did absolutely nothing to downplay the U.S. chances of winning gold in Beijing. He said LeBron James' recent prediction of gold was "right"
and added that he plans on going on a tour with his gold medal after returning to the United States.
Those comments, considering the U.S. only managed a bronze in Athens four years ago, have raised some eyebrows.
Wade isn't backing down, however.
"We have one goal in mind and that's to win,"
Wade said. "We don't feel we're going to lose. We never feel we're going to lose. I don't go into a game with the Heat and feel we're going to lose. That's just the way it is. I think everyone is taking it a little but too much. We never used the word 'guarantee.' All we said is that we will win. That's our goal. That's the only reason we're playing."
