After sitting on the sidelines for nine games, due to a strained hamstring, Miami Heat’s guard Dwyane Wade returned to the starting lineup.
On Saturday, Wade decided to give it a shot, and entered the game, at the start of the second half, against the Atlanta Hawks.
To be eligible to play, Wade had to go through an extensive pre-game workout which included three strenuous workouts throughout the day on Friday.
“I’m going to give it a go today,” Wade said before the game on Saturday. “That’s the plan. The first thing was to get comfortable with it. You never know how severe it is until you try to strengthen it. Now, it’s just about getting comfortable and pushing it to see where you’re at.”
Wade, nor his fellow teammates, realized the severity of the injury that he suffered on March 26. This was the longest that Wade had been out of the game this season, and he was excited, and anxious, to get back to the court. However, he knew that he needed to limit his playing time so that he didn’t add to his current injury.
“As human beings, we don’t really have patience,” Wade continued. “Especially as you get to this part of the season. You really start to gear up for the playoffs. I’ve tried to stay in tune with the team, in tune with what we’re doing. I had to understand that the time would come. We’ll see how it does.”
Wade (returning tonight after missing 9 games w/ hamstring injury): “Now it’s about getting comfortable and pushing it to see where I’m at.”
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) April 12, 2014
Wade on returning tonight: “I felt good. Better than I could’ve envisioned. I didn’t feel like I had been off that long, I was aggressive.”
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) April 13, 2014
In 51 games, Wade has averaged 19.2 points, 4.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds.
Image via Wikimedia Commons