“Dwyane was like the father lion, LeBron was the baby lion” - Throwback to Tim S. Grover’s comments on Dwyane Wade’s leadership for the Miami Heat, in an excerpt from his book Relentless
By any estimation, Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade had a full career with three NBA championship titles and multiple accolades to his name. During his time in Miami, he led the franchise to 12 playoffs in 15 seasons. His relevance to the game is unquantifiable, and the singular fact that his name is still widely brought up in conversation since his retirement speaks to that.
With LeBron James making his way to the Heat in the 2010-11 NBA season, both players became arguably the most talked about duo in the league. Their on-court combination was unmatched and proved unguardable. The pair complemented each other on and off the court as they remain close friends and business partners to this day.
Tim S. Grover, a celebrity trainer and owner of Attack Athletics, is known to have trained Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant as well as Wade. In his book "Relentless," Grover gave an illuminating account of Wade’s leadership role with the Heat, likening the latter to a "father lion" with James being the "baby lion."
"Dwayne was the mastermind of that team, and LeBron played the role he was sent to play. I just can't look at it any other way. Dwyane was like the father lion, LeBron was the baby lion, and the baby lion knew that whatever he did, he always had the father lion right there, just in case. And when Dad needed to step in and protect the family, he did, and the baby went right on doing whatever he was supposed to do."
D-Wade's #NBA75 jacket 🔥
(via @DwyaneWade) https://t.co/3Oyi3tGyiE
Tim S. Grover believes without Dwyane Wade, the Miami Heat wouldn't have been able to win the 2012 and 2013 championship titles
Dwyane Wade's role within the Miami Heat roster at the time was a very crucial one. So much so that Grover believes without him the all-powerful Heat team as we knew it wouldn't have been the same.
Three years ago today, Dwyane Wade made this ridiculous game-winner 🤯
(via @NBATV) https://t.co/XGu2pCtgkq
He stated that the shooting guard's leadership, coupled with the overall skills of the Big Three (Wade, James and Chris Bosh), was responsible for the titles attached to the franchise. He maintains that without Wade and the input of his two side-kicks, the Heat would have won "no rings" during that time
"You take Dwyane off that team, they can't win that championship. It doesn't matter how skilled LeBron is; without Dwyane's leadership, the 2012 "Big Three" Heat would have been just another team loaded with talent and no rings."