Latest news with #MiamiHeat
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Dwyane Wade Fuels Fire About NBA Draft Lottery Being Rigged
Dwyane Wade has always been a straight shooter, and his recent comments about the NBA Draft Lottery have set the internet on fire. During a conversation on USA TODAY Sports, the Miami Heat legend didn't outright accuse the league of rigging the lottery, but his words did enough to spark fresh debates. The topic came up when Wade was asked about the Dallas Mavericks landing the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, a surprise given their slim 1.8% odds. Former Marquette Golden Eagles player and Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade smiles timeout during the first half of the game against the Providence Friars at Fiserv Hanisch-Imagn Images Dwyane Wade on NBA Draft Controversy "It's a business," the Heat legend said when asked if the draft was rigged, instantly fueling fan speculation. He clarified he wasn't accusing anyone but emphasized that professional sports prioritize financial interests. Wade then shared a 2008 story when he expected Miami to get the top pick but landed No. 2, while Chicago, with low odds, secured No. 1 and drafted Derrick Rose. Advertisement His comments fueled the fire, hinting at moments like LeBron going to the Cleveland Cavaliers. "Maybe that's a coincidence," Wade remarked. NBA Fans React to Wade's Comments NBA fans didn't hold back their thoughts. One fan commented, '2006 was rigged. It's a business…' hinting at past NBA controversies. Another echoed, 'D-Wade acting like the 2006 finals weren't rigged,' referring to the Miami Heat's title win over the Dallas Mavericks that year. Some fans saw Wade's comments as a direct confession. 'Literally just said 'it's rigged',' one user noted, while another added, 'In other words, it is rigged.' The debate only grew more intense with comments like, 'Having a lottery for a draft is just dirty… the worst team should get the first pick.' Advertisement One fan pointed out the broader picture, asking, 'So LeBron winning in Cleveland as a storyline was rigged?' This sparked even more heated exchanges, showing how Wade's comments had reignited old conspiracy theories about the NBA's biggest moments. Wade's comments were careful, but the implications were anything but subtle. He didn't outright accuse the NBA of manipulating the draft, but his words were enough to keep the debate alive. The idea that the draft is "a business" is hardly new, but hearing it from a former NBA superstar and current team co-owner gives it more weight. Fans continue to debate, and conspiracy theories will always have their place in sports. But for now, Wade has given everyone something to talk about. Related: Dwyane Wade Doesn't Deny NBA Draft Lottery Is Rigged
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
LeBron James Reportedly Used to Get Treatments While Clubbing
LeBron James Reportedly Used to Get Treatments While Clubbing originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Miami Heat acquired a 25-year-old LeBron James from the Cleveland Cavaliers by way of a league-shattering sign-and-trade in the summer of 2010. Advertisement After joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to complete a legendary 'Big 3,' the trio came away with two NBA championship victories in 2012 and 2013. While the general skillset of the three superstar players led the franchise to the summit twice in four seasons, James' ability to stay on the court and remain in peak condition was an incredibly important reason for the team's success. During a recent appearance on the Nightcap Show hosted by NFL legends Shannon Sharpe and Chad 'Ochocinco' Johnson, former Heat guard Mario Chalmers shared a hilarious detail with regard to James' incredible commitment to his health. Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) and shooting guard Dwyane Wade (3).Steve Dykes-Imagn Images "I tell people this all the time, Bron would really get treatment if we was in the club," the 2-time NBA champion told Sharpe and Johnson. Advertisement "Like, he would literally have something on his knee or something on his back inside the club." "Once somebody is doing that, like that's real dedication to just be in the club with treatment, ice therapy or whatever." "He's always got something that's recovering, making his body recover." After the conclusion of his 22nd NBA campaign, James' condition continues to mystify the broader sports sphere. The 40-year-old received All-NBA Second Team recognition for his 2024-25 regular season effort, as he contributed 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists while appearing in 70 contests for the Los Angeles Lakers. Advertisement With the Heat, James' amazing ability to stay healthy was baffling, even back then. The future first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee took part in 294 of a possible 328 regular season games spanning his four-year tenure with the Heat. Amazingly enough, the legendary forward led the Heat to four consecutive NBA Finals appearances in this time as well, part of his own individual streak of eight straight appearances on the game's biggest stage from 2011-2018. Related: Dwyane Wade Makes Unexpected Admission About Miami Heat's Big 3 Related: LeBron James Recalls Super Disrespectful Encounter From NBA Personnel This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 2, 2025, where it first appeared.
USA Today
10 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Mark Daigneault pays respect to Rick Carlisle ahead of Pacers-Thunder 2025 NBA Finals
Mark Daigneault pays respect to Rick Carlisle ahead of Pacers-Thunder 2025 NBA Finals For the first time in the 2025 NBA playoffs, Mark Daigneault enters as the freshly-faced rookie. He coached against two interim coaches in the first two rounds with Tuomas Iisalo and David Adelman. And while Chris Finch was in last year's Western Conference Finals, that didn't matter as OKC was a buzzsaw. But Rick Carlisle is on a different level. He's been an NBA head coach since 2001. This will be his second NBA Finals. He was the Dallas Mavericks' head coach when they upset the Miami Heat in 2011. The 65-year-old hopes history repeats itself. The Oklahoma City Thunder enter the 2025 NBA Finals as the heavy favorite. They were the league's best team all season and continued their dominance in the playoffs with a 12-4 record against the West to reach the championship round. Meanwhile, the Indiana Pacers have caught fire at the right time. Tyrese Haliburton is the headliner, but the East's fourth seed is rich with depth. Pascal Siakam has stepped up as the second-best player. Myles Turner and Andrew Nembhard have been complementary pieces. It's also helped to have Carlisle as their head coach. If anybody can bring their squad an advantage from the sidelines, it's the future Hall-of-Famer. He helped take down the Miami Heat in their first year with LeBron James. It'll take a similar David-esque approach to slay the Thunder. 'I have a lot of respect for him. He's had an unbelievable life in basketball. When you look at all the things he's experienced in his playing career and his assistant coaching career and his head coaching career. He's forgotten more about the game than most of us have seen," Daigneault said about Carlisle. "I have a lot of respect for him. He's the president of the Coaches Association. He's got 29 really good relationships with the coaches and is in constant communication with us." Besides a few blips, Daigneault has made the right decisions in the playoffs. Let's see if the national spotlight and the highest stakes possible in a basketball game will change that. Meanwhile, Carlisle should know what to expect at this point in the year.
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ira Winderman: How the Thunder came to own the NBA (and the Heat's draft future)
MIAMI — Salt meet wound. Not only will the Oklahoma City Thunder be playing in this year's NBA Finals, but so will a team holding a considerable stake of the Miami Heat's draft future. In this case, it's one and the same. Advertisement When the 2025 NBA Finals open Thursday at Paycom Center, the team in the home colors will be the team in possession of the Heat's 2025 first-round pick, the Heat's 2027 second-round pick, the Heat's 2029 second-round pick and the Heat's 2030 second-round pick. To say the tables have been turned since the Heat's Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh defeated the Thunder in the 2012 NBA Finals would be an understatement, with the Thunder having supplanted the Heat as a touchstone franchise. Yes, the Heat went on to win not only those 2012 NBA Finals but also the following NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. And, yes, the Heat since have made another pair of visits since to the NBA Finals. But it's not as if the Thunder fell off the face of the playoff race in the interim, with trips to conference finals in 2014 and '16 and then all the way back up to the conference semifinals a year ago, before this 68-14 roughshod run through the regular season and then this playoff success. Advertisement And, along the way — perhaps in a lesson worth heeding by the Heat in their current state — offering a lesson that there is nothing wrong with taking a break. Prior to this OKC revival, the Thunder were 22-50 in 2020-21, 24-58 in 2021-22 and 40-42 in 2022-23, before the jump back up to 57-25 a season ago. Stepping back to step forward has never quite been a Pat Riley gait, admitting just weeks ago he had been complicit in a pair of tanks over his three-decade stewardship, otherwise pedal to the metal, even when all the gears weren't necessarily aligned. And unlike with the Thunder's trove of draft picks, the Heat consistently have instead dealt many away in the hope of something closer to instant gratification (hello, Terry Rozier). Advertisement But as much as anything is the type of move made by the Thunder that Riley arguably has never made over his 30 seasons, selling high to set up the future. Exhibit A (or, more to the point, non-Exhibit A) stands as holding on a bit too long with Jimmy Butler and realizing February's middling return. This, of course, also is where the drawing of parallels needs to be allowed to breathe, because the Thunder's franchise-altering trade was once-in-a-decade stuff, or even beyond. On July 10, 2019, days after the Heat had wrapped up their acquisition of Butler from the Philadelphia 76ers in yet another of Riley's win-now moves, the Thunder swung the deal that now again has Oklahoma City as a center of the NBA universe. On that date, the Thunder dealt Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, the 2021 first-round pick that turned into Tre Mann, the 2022 first-round pick that turned into Jalen Williams, a 2023 first-round pick that turned into Dillon Jones, the No. 15 pick in this year's draft that will come from the Heat, a pick swap this June from the Clippers (moving up from No. 30 to No. 24) and the Clippers' 2026 first-round pick. Advertisement As in 2025 NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. As in 2025 third-team All-NBA selection Jalen Williams. As in enough remaining draft capital to trade for another star, if need be. No, the Heat were not getting for 35-year-old Jimmy Butler in February what the Thunder in 2019 got for 29-year-old Paul George. And for those who believe the Heat should have acted sooner, they also weren't getting anything close to that for 34-year-old Jimmy Butler last summer, either. About as close as you can find to that in this millennium arguably was the Celtics' 2013 trade of what remained of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets for what turned into the draft selections of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Advertisement As for those future Heat picks now held by the Thunder, the selection at No. 15 in this year's draft traveled to Oklahoma City from the Butler trade in 2019; the 2027 second-rounder due came from the Heat's 2021 acquisition of Trevor Ariza from the Thunder; the 2029 second-rounder due from the Heat came from the 2023 salary dump of Victor Oladipo to the Thunder, which also cost the Heat their 2030 second-round pick. So as good as it currently stands for Oklahoma City, and for as ominous as it currently stands for the Heat, while watching the 2025 NBA Finals keep in mind ... the Heat also are funding the Thunder's future. (Or simply watch the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final instead.) ____
Associated Press
a day ago
- General
- Associated Press
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