WHO CARES

Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade said he is not paying any attention to what the critics say about his team-up with LeBron James and Chris Bosh in South Florida. In an article which appeared in the Miami Herald, Wade understood that there will always be some backslash to the recent developments surrounding the suddenly-formidable Heat. But at the end of the day, he said he remains happy, will always wear a big smile on his face and will look forward of winning it all for the Heat. Wade shot back at Charles Barkley, one of the avid critics of the new “three Kings” in Miami. Wade’s also glad on the supporting cast of the team which will include ex-LeBron teammate Zydrunas Ilgauskas and old reliable Udonis Haslem. Plus, he is also excited on the prospects of adding Mike Miller and Juwan Howard to the mix. As far as the Heat is concerned, Wade thinks everything is pointing towards the right direction.

“The worst thing I've heard is from a colleague, Barkley, saying if he was 25 like LeBron, he wouldn't team up with guys. But when he got older, he tried to team up with Scottie Pippen and Hakeem Olajuwon. Why wait until you're old and you have nothing left in the tank? . . . I always say Barkley says things to keep himself relevant.

“I have a big smile on my face. I'm playing with LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Why would I care what they say? . . . No matter what owners, [general managers] or players say, we will have to play. We understood when we did this, there would be some backlash. Other NBA people who have criticized the Heat are trying to get press. We've been taking all the press. We're not going to keep firing back. We're not overconfident. We know the Lakers are the champions. They are the team everyone is shooting for and they should be.

“The team is coming together well, better than expected. The hard part is out of the way. We've got the big three. We still have a lot of people that want to be a part of it that we can add. We want to make sure we wait and add the right people. The locker room has to be right. Everyone might not have the right personality to deal with this. We don't want any wrong links on this team.

“We've been doing a good job letting coach know the guys out there and he's been doing a good job letting us know we can get them. We're all working together. LeBron really wanted Z here. I was all up for it. Riles was all for it. It's going to be great to be able to drive and kick it out to a big man who can shoot. I wanted to play with U.D. (Haslem) the rest of my career. I was going to be do everything in my power to make sure Udonis stays here. I'm just as happy for U.D. as I am for myself.

“I will never be the highest-paid player on my team, and I never have been. I'm fine with that. The sweet thing about all this is me, Chris and LeBron don't make the most money in the NBA. They can't say it's the money. We've done this to really win.”