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Dwyane's world

Steve Kerr

ASK STEVE

Question
(from Menzo in Nice, France)
I must say that reading your stuff is a very nice complement to watching the games. I have a bit of a financial question (that's what I do for a living). Do teams make money out of reaching the playoffs and/or winning the NBA title? I understand that more games means more tickets sold, but my question is, "Does the league have a rewarding system for NBA/conference/division winning teams?"

Answer
Menzo, That's a great question. The NBA teams make more money in the playoffs based on how many games each one plays. As you mentioned, ticket sales factor in, as do parking and concessions. For the players, the league provides a pool of playoff money that is distributed to each team depending on how far the team goes. If a team gets knocked out in the first round, its share will be relatively small. As a team advances from one round to the next, its share of the pot grows. The winner of the championship gets the biggest share, of course.

Then it is up to the players on each team to divide up the share among themselves. Any player that is on the roster all season automatically will get a full playoff share. Other players who arrived via a trade or were signed late in the season may get only half a share, or less or more, depending on the team vote. Regardless, it is a significant amount of money. The winners of the championship all can expect a full share worth approximately $150,000, give or take a few dollars depending on how the team divides the pot. That's pocket change to Shaquille O'Neal, maybe, but it's a heck of a lot of money to most of the players. Don't think it's not discussed among the players during the playoffs, either. Guys know there's not only a trophy at the end of the rainbow but a pot of gold as well,

Entering this postseason, Dwyane Wade was a great young player – an All-Star headed for superstardom.

Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I think he's there now.

Wade has made these playoffs his own by emerging as an absolute superstar in the NBA. Put him up there with the best of the best: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki – whoever you want. Nobody penetrates and gets to the rim like Wade.

His talent was on full display Monday as the Miami Heat again beat up on the Detroit Pistons in an 89-78 victory. In scoring a game-high 31 points, Wade showed off a deadly medium-range jumper, cat-quick forays to the hoop and the ability to draw contact in the paint and still finish plays.

Wade made eight of 11 shots, but more importantly he attacked the Detroit defense so relentlessly that he made 19 trips to the free-throw line and converted 15 of them.

The Pistons tried everyone to guard him: Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Lindsey Hunter and even Maurice Evans. Flip Saunders basically conceded his team's inability to cover Wade by going to a zone defense for much of the second half, but it didn't matter. Wade found his way into the paint anyway and either drew fouls, scored or got the ball to an open teammate.

His spectacular play – combined with a solid effort from Shaquille O'Neal, who scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds – propelled the Heat to a 3-1 series lead over the two-time defending Eastern Conference champs. Wade certainly has entered a different stratosphere.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

28 for 47, 12 for 22 – Those were the respective free-throw numbers for Miami and Detroit. Even though they missed 19 shots from the line, the Heat were able to control the tempo of the game by constantly getting fouled. The Pistons simply could not stop O'Neal or Wade and had to resort to fouling. As a result, Miami slowed the game down and got back in transition all night, holding Detroit to just two fast-break points. Without any easy buckets available, the Pistons struggled to 39-percent shooting. And being a jump-shooting team, they weren't able to get to the free-throw line much themselves. That was the difference in the game.

ROLE PLAYER OF THE NIGHT

Udonis Haslem – The Heat power forward played a solid game, making six of 10 shots and giving space to Wade and O'Neal with his outside shooting. But Haslem's game is about much more than making shots. He is the "heart and soul" of the team, according to coach Pat Riley, who cites Haslem's defense and rebounding as being critical to the team's success. Haslem rotated to help out on Hamilton, who tried to work himself free off screens but constantly found Haslem in his way. Haslem's work – and that of the entire Miami defense – slowed Hamilton to a 4-of-15 shooting night.

VIEWERS GUIDE FOR TUESDAY

Game 4: Dallas Mavericks at Phoenix Suns – The theme of Game 4 for the Suns is competitiveness. Phoenix appeared to be outworked in Game 3, so much so that Nash even suggested that his team had "given in." Expect Phoenix to play with a major sense of urgency as the Suns try desperately to avoid going down 3-1 to the Mavericks.

The man who normally provides fire and intensity for the Suns, Raja Bell, still is injured and remains doubtful for Game 4. Shawn Marion, Phoenix's energizer bunny, needs to come up with one of his signature big games. He snared 18 rebounds in Game 3 but was not himself offensively, shooting just 4-of-12 for 10 points. Marion has to outplay Josh Howard, who "out-Marioned" Marion in Game 3 with his hustle and second-half offensive explosion. But if things go poorly for the Suns, remember Mike D'Antoni's favorite expression: "When in trouble, go small. When really in trouble, go even smaller." The problem is that to go small you must have defenders who will battle for every loose ball and rebound, and Phoenix's best player in that regard is Bell. The Suns could use his energy and attitude if they are to win Game 4 and tie the series, but expecting him to play may be too much to ask.