DENVER _ Now dealing with a new set of rich-team problems with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dwyane Wade on Thursday offered insight into a less-than-upbeat close to the Big Three era with the Miami Heat.
Addressing the media at the Cavaliers' practice facility, Wade said Cleveland's 3-5 start has revived memories of the Heat's run to the 2014 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs, despite an uneven ride in the fourth season playing alongside Chris Bosh and current Cavaliers teammate LeBron James.
"As a team," Wade told reporters, according to Cleveland.com, "we were kind of like this. It was worse because it wasn't new guys. It was guys who had been around each other four years in a row. Your jokes weren't funny anymore to other guys. When you walked in, it wasn't a big smile any more. Guys were just over you.
"It's like being in a bad marriage. But we somehow made it to the Finals."
The Heat lost that championship series after winning titles in 2012 and '13. James left the Heat to return to the Cavaliers as a free agent a month later, with Wade joining him in Cleveland this season.
"Indiana should have beat us that year," Wade told reporters at the Cavaliers' practice facility of the Heat's series in the 2014 Eastern Conference finals. "We had a mental edge over those guys and we were able to win. But we shouldn't have been there. So it's tough, definitely. That's why it hasn't been done a lot."
The Heat's 2014 visit to the Finals was their fourth consecutive trip to the NBA's championship series. The Cavaliers have made the past three NBA Finals.
"For the guys that's here, you have to pull from something else to motivate you, to get you to feel that hunger again like you had that first year," Wade said. "That's sports, it's tough."
