Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade selected to U.S. Olympic basketball team
By Ira Winderman
Sun-Sentinel.com
12:52 PM EDT, June 18, 2008
Dwyane Wade has passed his first test.
His surgically repaired left knee deemed up to rigorous competition, the Miami Heat guard has been informed he will receive one of 12 U.S. Olympic basketball berths when the team for the Beijing Games is formally announced Monday.
A source close to the process confirmed the selection Wednesday.
Jerry Colangelo, the former Phoenix Suns executive who heads the Olympic basketball committee, met last week with Wade in Chicago and came away convinced that the Heat guard is up to the challenge of the grueling commitment.
After Wade missed the close of the Heat season following treatment on his knee, there were questions about his ability to compete for an Olympic roster spot.
However, Colangelo made clear that Wade been "building equity" with USA Basketball with his appearances with the 2004 Olympic team in Athens and the 2006 U.S. entry at the World Championships in Japan.
Wade then missed last summer's Olympic qualifying tournament after undergoing knee and shoulder surgeries in May 2007.
The U.S. Olympic committee originally had planned to hold a final tryout session of 15 or 16 candidates for the 12 roster spots during its late-June Olympic camp in Las Vegas. The plan was changed in recent weeks to make the final cutdown well in advance of the July 1 roster deadline required by the Olympics.
Heat President Pat Riley has been supportive of Wade's Olympic bid, even though it will have his team leader returning from China barely a month before the Heat's late-September start to training camp. The Heat then will play preseason games in France and London.
After returning from Athens and Japan with bronze medals, Wade had put a premium on Beijing.
He made clear in a recent interview that he did not view an Olympic appearance as having a detrimental impact in the Heat's 2008-09 season.
"I don't really look at it that way," he said. "It isn't like I'm going to play 40 minutes a game. I played two times already (in international competition). After my first year, I came back and had my best year, when I averaged 24 a game. And the second year I came back and was averaging 28.
"To me, it's an advantage, because you're playing competitive basketball, the best basketball around."
Wade did acknowledge that the time in China certainly wouldn't hurt his marketing appeal.
"For Beijing, we've been waiting a long time, to market yourself the way you want to be marketed," he said.
Wade, who is expected to play as a reserve in the Olympic perimeter rotation behind Cleveland Cavalier forward LeBron James and Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, appreciates the whirlwind ahead.
After a brief Olympic training camp June 28 through July 30 in Las Vegas, Wade will return to Las Vegas for a training camp that runs from July 21 through July 26. From there, the U.S. team will leave for training in Macao from July 28 through August 1, followed by training in Shanghai from August 1 through August 5.
Olympic basketball competition runs from August 10 through August 24.
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