Thursday, May 4, 2006, 08:56 AM
Curiously, Dwyane Wade wouldn’t go on record Wednesday confirming Shaquille O’Neal’s account that he sent word to the lockerroom during Game 5 that the Heat needed Wade to return to the court. This wouldn’t be the first time O’Neal has, ahem, stretched the truth. Remember last year when Wade had a bad Game 1 in the Detroit series? A story circulated by O’Neal said he and Alonzo Mourning took Wade out for a late-night drive to clear his head. That, as the story goes, led to Wade’s 40-point performance in Game 2. Well, now it turns out that late-night drive probably never happened. That brings us around to Wednesday. When first asked about the Shaq story, Wade lowered his head and laughed. “I don’t know,” he said about Shaq’s version of the story. ” I just know I’m looking at TV and I saw him get his fourth foul, I saw our team was down five, so I was on my way out. And actually (Heat media relations assistant) Michael Lissack was on his way toward the back and I was on my way out, so maybe it happened at the same time.”
Curiously, Dwyane Wade wouldn’t go on record Wednesday confirming Shaquille O’Neal’s account that he sent word to the lockerroom during Game 5 that the Heat needed Wade to return to the court. This wouldn’t be the first time O’Neal has, ahem, stretched the truth. Remember last year when Wade had a bad Game 1 in the Detroit series? A story circulated by O’Neal said he and Alonzo Mourning took Wade out for a late-night drive to clear his head. That, as the story goes, led to Wade’s 40-point performance in Game 2. Well, now it turns out that late-night drive probably never happened. That brings us around to Wednesday. When first asked about the Shaq story, Wade lowered his head and laughed. “I don’t know,” he said about Shaq’s version of the story. ” I just know I’m looking at TV and I saw him get his fourth foul, I saw our team was down five, so I was on my way out. And actually (Heat media relations assistant) Michael Lissack was on his way toward the back and I was on my way out, so maybe it happened at the same time.”
