Wade on Rose's injury history: 'Your mindset is going to be a little different'
If anyone in the NBA can empathize with Derrick Rose, it's probably Dwyane Wade.
While he never missed as much time as Rose has over the past two years, Wade has his own checkered injury history, and has dealt with the same type of fan and media scrutiny, the same questions about toughness and durability and resolve that are now dogging his fellow Chicago native.
"When you have serious injuries the way he has, your mindset is going to be a little different," Wade told NBA.com's Sekou Smith in an interview published Sunday. "There’s no way around that. It doesn’t mean you don’t love the game and you are not going to give it your all. It just means that you know, if this happened to me once it could happen to me again. And you start thinking about things in that context all the time. It’s inevitable, at least in the way you think about things."
Wade, who's had lingering knee problems throughout his career and had major shoulder surgery when he was just 24, sees the value in pacing oneself. Now on the wrong side of 30, he's constantly figuring out ways to adapt his game to the shifting whims of his body. Rose is working his way through that same process.
"I don’t think it’s something that is on your mind until something serious happens," Wade said. "For me, when I had my shoulder surgery, that’s when I started thinking differently. A serious injury, a surgery shows you that none of this is promised to you. And that’s when it really sets in for you as a player. (...)
"(A)t some point, you would hope that each individual (who) comes through this game has a moment when they realize things have to be done differently. You don’t ever like to see guys you play with go through the struggles, on or off the court, there has to be a point when you slow down, recognize where you are in your career and make the necessary changes to do things in a way that allow you to be effective for whatever stage of your career you are in. (...)
"I came in as a point guard and now I’m a post-up player … I mean, I do pick and rolls now, but I came in as a point guard and we run most of our post-ups now for me. So you have to understand that the the game evolves ... the world around you evolves."