Dwyane Wade Is Not Looking Familiar

2 Time Champ & Former Finals MVP D-Wade 

We are used to seeing Dwyane Wade fly through the air with the greatest of ease.  We are used to Dwyane Wade taking over games.  Basically we are used to Dwyane Wade being great. Sad thing is reality is now setting in and that Dwyane Wade we once knew might be gone for good.

By Haz Bey

D-Wade has fought injuries throughout his career.  He has taken a lot of punishment with his physical style of play.  Who can forget the Gatorade commercial with Wade hitting the ground numerous times?  Seems like all those bumps and bruises from those falls along with all those 82 game regular season games, long playoff runs and we can not forget that he is not in his twenties anymore. All of those contributing factors involved might the lead to main reason why Dwyane Wade has lost his "Mojo".  

LeBron James told reporters at his press conference after the Heat's win in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals where LeBron had a monstrous 3rd quarter by outscoring the Pacers 16-13 by himself, that "I had to go back to my Cleveland days."  James was referring to when he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and his supporting cast was not up to par, to say the least.  For LeBron to have a mentality like that means there is something seriously wrong with Dwyane Wade.  It is definitely physically, but it is affecting him mentally on the court.  Dwyane has passed up shots that he would normally take, he looks guard-able and has lost his offensive aggressiveness.  Defensively he is still playing at a high level, but his ailing knee might be the ultimate key factor that has allowed him to lose his confidence on the offensive side of the floor.  Dwyane Wade is only averaging 13.9 points per game throughout the playoffs this season.  A mere shadow of his former self.

Dwayne Wade is not healthy right now.  He is not looking familiar.  He will has to tough it out for one more series against the Spurs in the NBA Finals (I have written off the Pacers since Game 3).  After that he can relax for a whole summer and get healthy again, hopefully.  So I will stay optimistic that D-Wade can return to form, but my heart says the Dwyane Wade we used to know, is gone forever.