BEIJING — I've attended hundreds of basketball games at the high school, college, and professional level in the United States, as well as the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan and a few dozen bj-league games over the past two seasons.
Yet it's safe to say that I've probably never seen a player enjoy himself more on the court than NBA All-Star guard Dwyane Wade did while playing for Team USA in Sunday's game against China at Olympic Basketball Gymnasium in Beijing. The one player who exhibited the same joie de vivre was Magic Johnson.
It was Wade's first significant game this summer. He missed the final 21 games of the Miami Heat's disastrous season due to a knee injury. He underwent shock-wave treatment and then began the grueling process of getting back into basketball shape.