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At a time when many were yet questioning if LeBron James and Dwyane Wade could really ever seamlessly co-exist on the hardwood, the two mega-star ballers were already well past the point of internalizing just how much they need one another to truly survive the grind of it all. (Photo: AP)

 

At a time when many were yet questioning if LeBron James and Dwyane Wade could really ever seamlessly co-exist on the hardwood, the two mega-star ballers were already well past the point of internalizing just how much they need one another to truly survive the grind of it all. In the end, it was that chemistry which most propelled the Miami Heat and their pair of transformative leaders into the franchise’s first title in arguably the most revolutionary-styled era the game has ever known.

In the aftermath of their stunning finals round defeat versus the Dallas Mavericks last season, Wade and James each immediately went their separate ways in salving individual wounds, restoring personal pride and ultimately retooling their games and psyches. In time, they’d reconvene in the open air and on the sandy shores of The Bahamas, this time intent on masterminding the only game plan that could net each of them the only victory that now seems to matter.

That’s when the seeds were first planted in Wade’s head as to how the only NBA team he’s ever known could truly best be serviced. “It’s probably one of the hardest things I had to in sports… in a sense I had to take a step back,” Wade told Yahoo! Sports of his decision to cede alpha male status to ultimate league and finals round MVP James.

“I want more success from winning,” he added. “I don’t want another scoring title… I’m just trying to win. I felt it had to come from nobody but me, to say, ‘Go ahead, man. You’re the best player in the world. We’ll follow your lead.’ Once I said that, I thought he kind of exhaled a little bit. It’s kind of like I told him, ‘listen, I’ll find my way. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be there.’”

Revisionist NBA historians doubling as chief King James critics will now tell you this day of reckoning was as inevitable as the repetitive practice of the NBA crowning a champ each and every season. Yet, with each of his failures, many of them grew more emboldened and vociferous, at one point all but making James’ decision to take his talents to South Beach a referendum as to what should be expected when the rules of sportsmanship are as blatantly disrespected as they were in the early days of him championing his teaming with Wade and fellow all-star Chris Bosh.

But clearly the James and Wade who took to the microphones in the wake of the Heat’s conquering run were as different as this Miami team was from the one which fell so miserably short of its ultimate pursuits of a year ago.

“This is just a testament to hard work, admitting mistakes and making adjustments,” said Wade’s Hollywood actress girlfriend Gabrielle Union, who knows a thing or two about assuming a role. “People thought it was just a ‘Let’s form the Avengers! kind of thing,’ but there’s a trust factor when you join forces with somebody who gets you, who’s been there, and who’s lived the life you’ve lived.

“With these two guys, it’s a brotherhood,” she added. “They’re brothers and they’re brothers in more ways than just on the basketball court… they truly support each other.”

Say what you will about either James or Wade, but there’s no denying each man seems to place a premium on loyalty and relationships. James, for example, kept his promise in placing the marketing arm of his soon-to-be billion dollar global empire in the hands of his three boyhood pals.

He, Maverick Carter, Randy Mims and Rich Paul, otherwise known as “The Four Horsemen,” officially formed the LRMR Marketing Group in 2005 amid not always warm and welcoming reviews. Yet, last year the agency netted James upwards of $50 million in off-the-court, endorsement earnings, amazingly now placing the 27-year-old Akron, Ohio native fourth on Forbes list of the world’s richest athletes.

Wade, meanwhile, took the honorable, though rarely heard of position among superstar male athletes of fighting to gain primary custody of his two young sons following his messy and much publicized divorce from his grade-school sweetheart.

And now here they stood at the center the sports universe, the fruits of all their growth and sacrifice now in hand in the form of their first NBA title together and their tag-team bond seemingly never greater.

“It’s about damn time,” a wide-grinned James said of his odyssey. “It’s about damn time.” Yet, in the same breath, the reflective James added “the best thing that happened to me was us losing in the Finals in 2011. It was the best thing to ever happen in my career because basically I got back to the basics. It humbled me. I knew I was going to have to change as a basketball player, and I was going to have to change as a person to get what I wanted.”

And his arrival, he’ll assure all that’ll listen, has been like no other, commencing with his appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a 16-year-old prodigy both revered and cursed as “The Chosen One.”

“It was a journey and I don’t want to compare it to any other player,” said James. “I had to deal with it and I had to learn through it. Everything that came with it, I had to basically figure it out on my own.”

Try as he might to be a source of inspiration and information, at times witnessing what it truly means to be LeBron James has left the three-year older Wade literally speechless.

“It’s just everything that piles up, and I’m like, ‘How does he deal with it without having, really, someone who can be his outlet?’ I’m the closest thing to his outlet, and sometimes I don’t get it,” said Wade.

But, man that he is, caring soul he always strives to be, Dwyane Wade, at least spiritually, wanted to be there for his boy— and it all began with recognizing the freak of habit he’d become.

“I wanted to make sure he was comfortable,” said Wade. “If he doesn’t have a safe place within his own team, where would he find one? I see the way he fixes his jersey, the way he lays everything out before a game. He’s the most mental athlete I’ve ever seen.

“I didn’t want to be a part of messing with his mental at all,” he added. “I wanted to ease it. And you know what makes LeBron most comfortable? Dominating on the basketball court, not waiting his turn to dominate… just doing it as often as possible.”

“It shows the evolution of a champion,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said of the growth and selfless nature of his two biggest stars. “Beyond being great basketball players, they’ve grown so much as men.”

And yet, each will tell you it was a bit of the little boy that still burns in them that always greatly got them to this point.

“This is why we all came together,” said Wade. “We just wanted to win. This is why we love the game and what we’ve dreamed of since the days of being on the play lot.”

Glenn Minnis is a NYC-based sports and culture writer. Follow him on Twitter at @glennnyc.