Dwyane Wade Disappoints Fans in Pacers Loss, Coach Spoelstra Explains Altercation
Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat forward and captain, led his team to a 94-75 Game 3 loss against the Indiana Pacers Thursday and was involved in an altercation with his coach and scored only five points.
Wade, one of the Heat's leading scorers, made zero points in the first half of the game, ending his night with five turnovers to cancel out his five points in 37 minutes. The unusually low-scoring game caused the media to question whether Wade was injured when the press approached his coach and teammates after the game.
Since the 30-year-old guard missed 17 games this season with injuries to his ankle, foot, knee and finger, some believed this was the cause of his poor performance on Thursday. However, Wade denied that any serious injury was holding him back more than any other player in the postseason.
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"At this point of the season, no one is 100 percent," Wade responded to the media after being questioned about his injury.
More than Wade's performance on Thursday, of which ESPN reported was the first time that the guard had a scoreless first half in 95 career playoff games, was an incident with Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra. The coach and his player were seen engaging in a heated verbal exchange during the team timeout, which caused many people to speculate whether there was trouble brewing within the team.
Some seemed shocked to see Wade react to his coach with hostility.
"Wow Dwyane Wade got into coach Spo's face," one fan observed on Twitter during the exchange.
Many fans seemed to be upset with Wade's reaction to his coach, during a game where he was not effective.
"Just saw video of him getting pissed at Spo again. He's your coach," one fan tweeted. "Shut up and listen to him. You're not above him."
Another fan thought Wade should be upset with himself, after his disappointing game.
"He's out of line," the fan tweeted. "Find a mirror and scream at the guy playing like garbage!"
Wade, who reportedly avoided his coach after the incident, did not shed light on the matter after the game.
"I don't even remember what y'all talking about," Wade said.
Spoelstra attempted to explain the situation as an emotional moment in a high-pressure game.
"Anybody that has been part of a team or has been a coach or been a player, you have no idea how often things like that happen," Spoelstra said. "That was during a very emotional part of the game. We were getting our butt kicked. Dwyane and I have been together for a long, long time. We've been through basically everything."
The Heat will attempt to overcome a 2-1 deficit in Game 4 against the Indiana Pacers which will take place on Sunday.
