Wade hopes hard work now makes for rich payoff later

How much taller is LeBron James than you?

"About four or five inches," Dwyane Wade replied with a laugh. "They're all about three or four inches taller than me."

Even Kobe Bryant

"He's listed at 6-6, but Kobe is [really] about 6-6½," Wade said. "I'm about 6-3½. So Kobe has some inches on me as well."

Seven years into a career that has overwhelmed all expectations, Wade -- who is listed officially at 6-4 -- was explaining how and why he continues to view himself as an underdog.

"Once I get done in this game and I can look back -- hopefully -- on the things I accomplished, then I can smile," he told me last Friday before a game at Indiana. "But right now, I try not to pat myself on the back. I feel like I have to work harder than any one of them because of my height, because I'm at a disadvantage that way. So I feel I have to work harder to get the things I get on the basketball court than the 6-8 LeBron or the 6-8 Kobe or the 6-8 Carmelo [Anthony].''

See how his mind works? Within a minute, he'd inflated Kobe by another two inches.

"At the end of the day, it makes it more gratifying to me that I can stand next to those guys at 6-4 and say I've accomplished some good things in this game," Wade went on. "But I want to continue to do that before the end of it."

Wade was facing down a career-long losing streak as he sat in the front row of the Conseco Fieldhouse after the morning shootaround. His Miami Heat had lost 14 consecutive games in this building, dating to 2001. But Wade responded that night with 32 points to go with four assists and three steals in 35 minutes for a 96-83 victory in which the Pacers never led. He held off Indiana with 11 fourth-quarter points by driving his way to the foul line and commanding the tempo like a shorter version of Michael Jordan, keeping the ball in his hands to break down the defense while steering his team out of harm. He wandered the perimeter with his dribble as patiently as a quarterback roaming right and left to change the play at the line of scrimmage.

"What we've seen Dwyane grow into is a complete leader," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Last year, he took a step forward when everybody wanted him to be the leader, and this year he's taking the lead in another step. Every timeout he's echoing what the coaches are saying; he's the one stopping practice and telling guys to focus and finish, and when guys are losing concentration, he's the one stepping forward. For a coach to have a player step in, it makes it all the more powerful. So it doesn't always have to be me who blows the whistle and says, 'Hey, let's get it together.' "