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NBA FINALS: SPURS v HEAT


June 20, 2013


Dwyane Wade


MIAMI, FLORIDA: Game Seven

San Antonio Spurs - 88
Miami Heat - 95


DWYANE WADE:  Oh man, man, man.  Whooh!  My name is Three, not Dwyane.  Thank you.

Q.  Dwyane, obviously you're‑‑
DWYANE WADE:  No.

Q.  Three, you came in here pretty giddy.  How does this giddiness compare to the other giddiness from one and two?
DWYANE WADE:  All the giddiness is the champagne talking.  This is sweet.  This is the sweetest one by far because of everything we've been through, everything I've been through individually and to get here to this moment, to have that kind of performance, that kind of game, help lead my team, it's special, man.  So special.

Q.  Three, you sat right outside the locker room on the floor there for a few minutes.  What was that about?
DWYANE WADE:  Just wanted to soak it in.  We go through life so fast, and we never really get to enjoy moments.  Seem like they go past us.  The championships that I've won seemed like they went past me so fast.  And tonight I just wanted to take a minute, take a moment and just soak in being a kid from Robbins, Illinois, from Marquette University and now having three championships.
This is a special moment for this organization.  It's a special moment for Miami.  And I appreciateso much of what everybody around me does, and the trust and belief that everyone has.  So I just wanted to take that moment, soak it in, holler at my home boy Larry right here, and just have my own moment.

Q.  Three, what did you say after the game to Duncan and also to Pop?
DWYANE WADE:  Well, first of all, to Tim Duncan, you see I ran to him.  He's one of the greatest of all time.  It's an honor to be able to go through this battle against him.  And at his age, if I can still do that, I would have a helluva career.  So I just wanted to congratulate him and thank him for being the competitor that he is.
Pop, I've known Pop since 2004 when we went to the Olympics.  And I went to thank him.  Pop told me, he said, you was Dwyane Wade tonight.  LeBron James was LeBron James.  And when y'all are that way, it's hard to beat you.  I just thanked them for being unbelievable competitors.

Q.  Probably makes it even harder when you've got a guy like Shane Battier hitting six threes.  Last year you had Mike.  This year you had Shane doing it in the clincher.  First of all, did you see that coming?  And what did that do to help open things up?
DWYANE WADE:  With our team we just continue to trust and believe.  We understand thatthis is a total team that we have here.  And even though it's led a lot of nights by LeBron, myself and Chris, everybody on our team chips in and gives us something.
And like you said, Game 6 it was Ray with the big shot.  And obviously last year Mike Miller had an unbelievable performance.  Shane ain't hit a shot since I don't know when.  But tonight he was unconscious.  And he's just a big‑time player, you know.  You want that for Shane so bad.  You wanted to see those shots go in for him because of everything he stands for.  I always say Shane is one of my‑‑ he's going to go down as one of my favorite teammates of all time just by the guy that he is.
We needed it.  We needed every inch of what everybody gave.

Q.  Dwyane, LeBron is now a multiple‑title winner.  How much less criticism might he get or does he have to win a lot more titles to get people off his back?
DWYANE WADE:  He'll get a lot less this summer.  When the season start up again next year, it's on again.  It's the ebb and flow, the highs and low of life.  He's been in a championship what four times, and he's won two of them.  That's a great percentage when you can make it to The Finals.
So the story is still yet to be seen what he's going to end up with, but right now he's going to enjoy number two.  Winning back to back, there's not a lot of people who has done that.
He's a special player.  We enjoy having him here.  What he brings every night is unbelievable.

Q.  This being Miami, what do you think about first off when you look at that boxscore?  Only five players scored, four players outscored the entire Spurs team.
DWYANE WADE:  I mean, that's just big‑time players.  We had guys just step up.  Like I said, no matter what, Mike Miller being 0‑for‑5, Chris being 0‑for‑5, it's not just about scoring with this team.  It's about so much more.
Like we said, we kept saying, nobody is going to remember what your shooting percentage was.  They're going to remember if you won a championship or not.  When they talk about Mike Miller, when they talk about Chris, et cetera, they're going to talk about them winning two championships.  They're not going to talk about them only taking five shots and missing five.
Those guys made a positive impact.  Chris did an unbelievable job of trying to guard Tim Duncan one‑on‑one all night because we wanted to stay home on the shooters like Danny Green and those guys.
So total team effort.

Q.  And then the knee.  Put into words how painful it was at times.  I know that off and on it was shooting pains throughout the postseason.  Did you ever consider taking games off?  Were you asked to take games off?
DWYANE WADE:  No, I never considered it.  I'm about gutting it out.  I talked to my knees today.  We had a conversation.  And I told them, I said, listen, both of you guys, y'all can give me one great game, you'll have a great summer.  So I'm going to treat my knees very well this summer.  And rest them.
But it's unfortunate that I had to deal with certain things.  But I never question God and never ask why.  I just try to figure out how I can be better, how I can do whatever it takes for my teammates.  And I was able to do that in this series, and especially tonight.

Q.  And lastly, are you going to just need a rest for your knee or might you require surgery?
DWYANE WADE:  No, no.  Is this wood?  (Knocking on the table).  No, it's not.  Hopefully no surgery.  Obviously there will be a few treatments me and Doc will talk about, but it won't be surgery.  Treatments, I hope.  A lot of rest is going to be key for them.  My knees right now they're still on fire because I have this hot stuff on my legs.  But hopefully no surgery at all.

Q.  Three, I'll call you Three, people seem to doubt you time and time and time again, and every time you are doubted, you put on a performance like you did tonight.  What do you say to those people who continue to doubt you?
DWYANE WADE:  I don't say anything.  Everybody has an opinion.  In this world we live in today everyone can use that opinion.  But without doubt maybe I'm not here today.  So that's fine.  As I said many times, my belief is stronger than your doubt.  And I'm always going to believe.  When it's a big game, I don't care what I'm going through, No. 3 going to show up.  He's going to do something to help his team win.

Q.  That trophy up there probably means something different to each 15 of the guys on the roster, but collectively what does it say about the team and where you guys are?  And does it feel like it's just starting, it's going to run together?
DWYANE WADE:  Well, it says a lot about where we're at now, the team that we are.  2010 our first year together we tried to make it work.  And we just wasn't a team that we needed to be to gut a Game 6 out, to win a game like that.  To be in the championship three years in a row, to win two of those three, is unbelievable.
Everybody can't get to The Finals and win six in a row‑‑ like win six and not lose one like Michael Jordan.  Everyone don't do that.  But we are excited about the future of this organization.  We are still a good team.  And we're going to do everything we can to make sure that we can stay competitive.  And adding a guy like Ray Allen, adding a guy like Birdman, this organization doesn't rest on trying to make sure that we can put ourselves in a position to have a trophy like this.
So we'll be back next year again, looking to do it again.

Q.  As a follow‑up, Pat Riley said coming into the playoffs that he believed you guys can make a San Antonio Spurs‑type dominant run if you stay together.  Is that something you guys have talked about at this point, staying together beyond those options that you have in your contracts?
DWYANE WADE:  We haven't.  We haven't talked about‑‑ we're living in the moment.  We're not thinking about the future right now.  We're not thinking about the past.  We're living in this moment right here.  And it's a sweet moment to live in.
So obviously San Antonio has had a great run.  They have had pretty decent luck when it comes to health with Tim Duncan being pretty healthy and Tony Parker staying healthy.  Me and Ginobili got this bug thing going on, but he's still one of the toughest, fiercest competitors out there.
So it will be sweet to be able to have a long run like the Spurs, but we'll get to that when we get to that.

Q.  In the name of all the Spanish‑speaking fans in Miami, gracias.  You are a true campeon.  I see "champions" there.  Do you feel the Spanish‑speaking fans supporting this team every single night?
DWYANE WADE:  Our fans have grown since I walked through those doors ten years ago.  People say what they want to say about Miami fans, but we love them.  They're our fans.  They tearing this city down right now.  They're enjoying it.  We have some of the best fans for us.  We appreciate them and what they bring us.  That's why we were able to be dominant here at home this year, because of their support.
So for all the fans in Miami, every community that support us, we thank you.  Thank you, guys, for a great year of coverage.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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