The moment of clarity Wade had in early January would help make LeBron completely relax. Even after LeBron insisted coming into the season that he was a new, improved man, it would still take Wade's concession to make LeBron really feel like himself in Miami.
"I see the way he fixes his jersey, the way he lays everything out before a game. He's the most mental athlete I've ever seen," Wade said, meaning of course that LeBron was cerebral and maybe a little obsessive, but not insane.
"I didn't want to be a part of messing with his mental at all. I wanted to ease it."
For Wade, that meant less touches. That meant finding a rhythm in his midrange game would be significantly more difficult. That meant a drop in scoring. But all for the right cause.
"It was probably one of the hardest things I had to do in sports was to, in a sense, take a step back," Wade said. "A lot of people don't understand. They'll say, 'Why would you do that?' To me, I want more success from winning. I don't want another scoring title. I'm just trying to win.
"I felt that it had to come from nobody but me, to say, 'Go ahead, man. You're the best player in the world. We'll follow your lead.' Once I said that, I thought he kind of exhaled a little bit."
I've been saying this since February. I started seeing that Wade was in a sense "relinquishing" the reigns of the horse slowly to LeBron this season. Allowing LeBron to be the best he can possibly be by simply getting out of his way.
This is incredible leadership from Wade (I think Pat Riley may have a bit to do with this). Something very similar happened with Magic and Kareem. Magic's ppg from 1986-1987 went up by 5ppg(!) because Magic said Kareem finally went to him and told him that it was Magic's team to carry. When Kareem said that to Magic, a huge weight was lifted from Magic's shoulders and Magic went out and just bulldozed the league, helping to win 2 back to back championships and as well as a regular season MVP.
I feel this season a large weight has been lifted from LeBron's shoulders. He's a lot more comfortable, a lot more in tune with himself, a lot less worried about what the media is thinking of him. Same parallel.
LeBron is going to will his way to the finals, and if Bosh is back, I just don't see any team out there that wants it more than LeBron does. With Bosh, LeBron will not lose.
He doesn't need to ballhog to validate his career. Plus, winning championships will elevate both their legacies far more than they could accomplish going it alone.