'Bizarre' injury has Heat's Dwyane Wade unsure if he'll play in All-Star Game
OAKLAND, Calif. – Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade is uncertain whether he will play in the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday due to a "bizarre" foot injury.
Wade was a late scratch from the Heat's 111-110 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night because of a sore left foot. The 10-time All-Star said he had numbness in his left leg in warm-ups before the game after "the nerve kind of shut down" and kept him from having feeling in his left foot. Wade said his injury was "drop foot," also known as foot drop, which causes an inability to lift the front part of the foot.
"It's one of the most bizarre things…," Wade said. "Hopefully, the numbness wears off more and more as it started to do throughout the game and throughout the rest of the night. By [Thursday] hopefully it subsides and we will go from there."
Wade was still expecting to take the Heat team plane that arrives early Thursday morning in New Orleans for NBA All-Star Weekend rather than return to Miami. Wade, who described himself as day-to-day, plans on getting treatment from the team's trainer in New Orleans in hopes of remedying the injury before Sunday.
Wade missed Tuesday's road win against the Phoenix Suns with a migraine headache. He has missed 13 games to injury this season, two more to sickness and is coming off of offseason knee surgery.
"First I want this to calm down a little bit and get back to feeling regular and I will go from there," Wade said. "… We will see. I'm not optimistic. I'm not pessimistic. I just want to get better."
If Wade cannot play in Sunday's All-Star Game, he will not only have to be replaced as an Eastern Conference All-Star but also as a starter. Possible East All-Star replacements include Indiana Pacers guard Lance Stephenson, Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, Orlando Magic guard Arron Afflalo and Charlotte Bobcats center Al Jefferson.
