Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki See Eye to Eye

Something put Dwyane Wade in a foul mood today ... maybe he's upset about not being Charles Barkley's 5. Maybe those little brats in that commercial never thanked him for the basketballs or the new goal. But whatever it was, it put D-Wade in the mood to come out of left field and whale on Dirk Nowitzki.

'At the end of the day,'' Wade told the Miami Herald, "you're remembered for what you did at the end. ... Dirk says they gave us the championship last year, but he's the reason they lost the championship, because he wasn't the leader that he's supposed to be in the closing moments. That's because of great defense by us, but also he wasn't assertive enough as a leader's supposed to be.''

Just one second there, professor. You're upset because Dirk said that the Mavs "gave" the title away, and then ... you accuse Dirk of not having the leadership to bring it home. Isn't that kind of what Dirk said? To recap:

Dirk: We gave them the title.
Dwyane: Yeah, well ... YOU GAVE US THE TITLE.

They're both right, because they're saying pretty much the same thing. Dirk might disagree on specifically who is responsible for the Mavs giveaway, but they did give it away. Wade says as much himself, acknowledging that if Dirk had a little more of a closer's mentality, that it was right there for the Mavs.

As for Dirk's leadership ... it's something I've harped on in the past. I once even went so far as to argue that no team relying on Dirk Nowitzki as their leader would ever win a title ... and while I wish I could have that particular statement back, I think it's still true that Dirk, despite being one of the best players in the league, is probably not one of the best leaders.