The Miami Heat’s star player, Dwyane Wade, believes that, following Hurricane Sandy, the Madison Square Garden game versus the New York Knicks ought to have been canceled.
Wade’s remarks made at Friday morning’s shootaround were captured in an article by Sun-Sentinel reporter Ira Winderman.
Wade had already caused a stir on Twitter when he talked about the team’s three-hour bus trek into midtown Manhattan (via CBS New York).
Wade explained his meaning to the media after it was initially assumed by outsiders that he was making a complaint.
We shouldn’t be playing tonight, in my opinion. There are currently more significant and bigger activities going on in this city.
Sports help people decompress, of course, but I believe there are more important issues in this community that need to be addressed.
Wade was really sympathizing with what New Yorkers were going through; he just made a poor word choice.
Though it’s simple to interpret his comment about “C’mon man” incorrectly, he didn’t mean it. Wade clarified that he was expressing his annoyance at having to play a game in the face of such dire conditions.
Wade went on to clarify later that he and the other Heat players are especially sensitive to the problem in that context because his own Miami residential neighborhood is constantly impacted by hurricane weather.
Wade’s teammates, notably LeBron James, supported him in his position:
