Miami — Dwyane Wade says no harm, no foul, and leave his Twitter feed alone.
The Miami Heat star caused a minor stir when a Canadian fan at American Airlines Arena caught Wade continuing to shoot after the Canadian anthem began before Game 3 of the Heat’s second-round series with the Toronto Raptors.
After practice on Sunday, Wade stopped short of apologizing but said the problem stemmed from confusion about how much time he had to warm up before the tip-off because both the U.S. and Canadian anthems were played.
“You’re always sensitive to everthing going on in the world,” he said when advised that some Canadian fans had taken offence. “I’m not thinking about anything like that. I’m thinking about what I need to do get ready for the game that I prepare for, that I’ve been doing my whole career.
“So I understand whatever is said from that standpoint, but I’m not a disrespectful person. So if anyone thinks I’m being disrespectful to a country then they have no idea who Dwyane Wade is. But you have to make an adjustment with our pre-game routine, with everything starting a little earlier than we’re used to. [Before Game 3] it kind of started a little later than it did when we were in Canada [for Games 1 and 2], we started with, like, 12:30 on the [pre-game] clock with the late start.”
In the NBA, the game clock counts down beginning 20 minutes before the tip-off and most players have a fairly scripted routine. The league only plays both anthems in the U.S. when Toronto is the visiting team. Both anthems are always played at the Air Canada Centre. For Game 4 at American Airlines Arena, an 8 p.m. start, the Canadian anthem is scheduled for 7:44 and the U.S. anthem for 7:46.
Wade tries to finish his warmup before the anthems by making his last shot, in this case with Amare Stoudemire rebounding for him. On Saturday, he missed two or three shots before making one and lining up for the anthem about 20 seconds after it started.
“People aren’t here. They see video footage of what they want to see,” said Wade. “I have a routine … It’s just something different, we’re playing Canada here at home; the clock started at a totally different time.
