Dwyane Wade wears flip-up sunglasses to post-Game 4 press conference because, at this point, whatever, man
The dream of the late '80s and early '90s, it seems, is alive in Miami.
After his Miami Heat eked out a 104-98 win in Game 4 of their best-of-seven NBA Finals matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night, Heat star Dwyane Wade headed to the postgame press conference to discuss his strong, box-score-stuffing outing — 25 points on 19 shots, five rebounds, three assists, two steals, two blocks and just two turnovers in nearly 42 minutes of play — and the feeling of being just one win away from his second NBA championship. When he arrived, he did so wearing flip-up sunglasses, a very clear and on-the-nose goof that he acknowledged from the podium.
"Yeah, paying a little homage to Dwayne Wayne tonight," Wade said.
To clarify for those of you who are young persons who were not consuming popular culture from the years 1987 through 1993, Dwayne Wayne — who looked like this — was a character on "A Different World," an NBC sitcom spun off from "The Cosby Show" that focused on a group of young students at a historically black college in Virginia. Dwayne Wayne was played by Kadeem Hardison, whom hoop fans might recognize from basketball-related films "White Men Can't Jump" and "The Sixth Man." Dwayne Wayne was really good at math, but he wasn't really a nerd, per se, and he was super tight with this dude, and he ruined a dude's wedding once, and he designed a video game, I think?
So, yes. Classic reference that is timely and relevant, and makes tons of sense via your names sounding the same, and the fact that '80s/'90s glasses are the greatest thing any NBA player has ever seen, apparently. Except now, it seems, it is all over, because even LeBron James thinks things have gotten out of control:
And the Kanye reference — which, of course, Wade is inverting by moving from impossibly rich, famous and gifted jock back to putative "nerd" — puts a "pop culture will eat itself" bow on this whole thing.
That LeBron dropped his glasses before coming out for his postgame presser after seeing Wade's performance should tell you something. The game is a wrapped one. Let's shut this glasses thing down before someone gets hurt/comes out with my father's old giant 20-pound bifocals and clips a Solar Shield over them like everything's fine.
Related video from Yahoo! Sports:
Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
• Yahoo! Sports spans the globe to re-live the greatest Summer Olympic moments
• Alabama fan admits poisoning Auburn trees on eve of trial
• Fantasy baseball video: Best players available in your league
• Y! Screen: Baseball player excels despite being deaf
