Dwyane Wade went from getting emotional during the pregame singing of a national anthem to disregarding one in a matter of a week. Last week, Wade appeared to shed a tear before game 7 against the Charlotte Hornets, a contest the Miami Heat would go on to win in dominating fashion.
He would go on later to say it’s because he was thinking about Prince’s tragic passing and his kind words about Wade. That obviously struck a sensitive spot for Wade as one single tear rolled down his cheek.
Yesterday, before the Miami Heat hosted the Toronto Raptors and lost in game 3 of their series, Wade wasn’t as focused as he was last week. Instead he was disregarding the singing of the Canadian national anthem and was putting up extra pregame shots.
Alright so, there’s a few things wrong with this.
First, Wade clearly breaks an NBA rule, as seen on page 61 of the NBA rule book. H-2 cleary states the following.
Players, coaches and trainers are to stand and line up in a dignified posture along the sidelines or on the foul line during the playing of the National Anthem.
That could warrant a fine of some sort for Wade. Second, the next time he goes back to Toronto, he should expect less than love for his arrival, because the comments online are hectic already.
Third and final, this is just plain rude. It’s understandable if you are taking that last shot before things get going but you should know when to cut it. The Raptors side did and so did his other teammates. The national anthems, for both countries, are staples before game because of the NBA’s outreach across the globe starting with our neighbors to the north. It’s disrespectful to them and every Canadian who spends money on the NBA, spends time watching and even spends time cheering on Dwyane Wade. It’s not right.
Fans filing into the game, well, that’s a different story. You do as you please as a fan but as an athlete, as a player who gets paid by an organization that uses less than five minutes before a game to sing a national anthem, as a player who is a leader on his team, who has been in the NBA for over a decade, Wade should know better. If something does come out of this, do not be surprised.
To make matters even worse ESPN commentator Mark Jones, who actually had the call for the game, said this on twitter in response to a fan talking about Wade’s pregame antics. Not the best response either.
Y’all are sensitive. Inferiority complex syndrome ??? https://t.co/kLCoQ1ceJS
— MarkJonesESPN (@MarkJonesESPN) May 8, 2016
