By TIM REYNOLDS
Associated Press
MIAMI — Dwyane Wade is giving fans an inside look at his journey to a third championship.
Wade is posting a short film on his website next week, with a sneak preview scheduled to come out today. The video features the Heat guard explaining some of what he went through while battling injuries last season, along with some never-before-seen footage of his workouts and a sparring session that he and LeBron James endured before Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
“I think it’s going to give people a different perspective on what it all meant to me,” Wade said.
The video is titled “D. Wade’s Journey to 3,” a play on both his jersey number and his number of titles won so far with the Heat. A copy of the video was reviewed by The Associated Press this week.
“The only outcome I see is winning,” Wade said on the night before Game 7 of the title series against San Antonio, those words coming early in the video. “I don’t see no other thing but winning.”
A night later, the Heat won Game 7, with Wade finishing with 23 points and 10 rebounds while playing with three bone bruises in his right knee.
Scenes from the team’s postgame celebration and the ensuing parade are part of the film.
One of the more compelling scenes in the video was filmed the evening before Game 1 of the finals, when Wade and Heat teammate LeBron James got a late-night workout in that even included them lacing up boxing gloves and doing some sparring. It shows Wade pushing a heavily weighted sled — screaming “I need three” to motivate himself — and catching medicine balls tossed his way by James as part of a core workout.
At the end of that session, Wade and James are both on the floor, covered in sweat and gasping for breaths.
“Road to a championship, man,” James said.
“It ain’t easy,” Wade replied.
There’s also some scenes that show Wade relaxed at home, with his two sons and his nephew. His younger son Zion looks at the camera at one point and quips, “Who’s Charles Barkley, anyway?” — a bit of a zing directed toward one of Wade’s more outspoken critics.
Wade also addresses how he handles things when people say his game is in decline.
“A lot of people are all, ‘He ain’t got it no more. He ain’t this. He ain’t that,’” Wade said. “Anybody who wants to pick up a basketball and meet me at the gym can do that.”
Wade battled a number of injuries last season, and still averaged 19.6 points in the title series against the Spurs.
The Heat guard said he’s eager to have his fans get a different view of his life.
“I don’t know what’s next,” Wade said in the video. “But what’s next, it’s going to be special.”
