Dwyane Wade says the Lakers cheated by acquiring Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies for basically nothing and winning back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010.
Miami Heat Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade has never been shy about admitting that he and LeBron teamed up in 2010 because Kobe Bryant had won five championships, while Wade had only one, while LeBron had none at the time.
But during Wade’s recent appearance on Lou Williams’ Underground Lounge podcast, the “Flash” revealed that watching Kobe celebrate after Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals was just the outcome of the move that really forced them to team up—the Pau Gasol trade.
“When Paul Gasol went to the Lakers, it changed everything,” admitted Wade. “First of all, they was cheating. Memphis just gave him away. They just gave him to Kob’. Now Marc Gasol end up becoming a good player but Marc was no Pau at that time.”
The Lakers made three straight Finals appearances and won back-to-back titles
The Lakers and Grizzlies shocked the entire league when they announced a trade that sent Pau to the Lakers for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the draft rights to Gasol’s brother Marc and first-round picks in 2008 and 2010. The trade immediately changed the fortunes of the Lakers and turned them into instant title contenders.
With a duo of Kobe and Pau, the Lakers made three straight appearances in the NBA Finals, winning back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. According to Wade, there was no way his Heat at that time would have competed with the Lakers if they met in the NBA Finals. So Wade called LeBron and discussed the possibility they had previously discussed while playing together on Team USA.
“So y’all just gave him Pau, so Kob’ get two championships, back-to-back,” added Wade. “How we gonna compete with that? So, we gotta do our thing. And whatever our thing is whatever it came to be.”
Grizzlies GM felt Pau would never lead them to a championship
But shocked as the entire world was, Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace revealed that he traded Pau because he felt he was more of a Scottie Pippen than Michael Jordan – he was not the type of player who could take over games and lead a team to a championship.
“The real issue here is Pau’s not a No. 1 guy on a great, great team,” said Wallace. “And that’s no disrespect. There are hardly any guys in the league that are. He’s Scottie Pippen. I know Michael Jordan, but I can’t go get him a replica of Michael Jordan. I can’t go get him Kobe. Him as the No. 1 guy is miscast.”
So Wade and LeBron took pay cuts to add a third superstar, Chris Bosh. “The Big 3” was born, and they made four straight trips to the NBA Finals. Like Kobe, Wade and LeBron won two chips together in Miami.
“They was cheating” – Dwyane Wade says he wanted to team up with LeBron because the Grizzlies gave away Pau Gasol to the Lakers.
