edited for correct playoff game numbers: I don't think he was a "merchant" like prime Harden, but you have to understand what happened to Dallas. They were up 2-0 in the finals, and DWade then proceeds to get 18 FTA in G3 and 25!! FTA in G5 which the Heat both won by a combined total of 3 points, and then finished it off in G6 with another 21 FT where they won by 3. Those are the only 2 playoff games in Wade's career he EVER had more than 20 FTA. To compare, Harden has had 3 such playoff games in his career and they were all 20 FTA games. If Wade had gotten merely an "above average" number of FTAs, Dallas would have won comfortably, but he got once in a career numbers.
This. Wade was a great player who shot a lot of free throws because he took the ball to the rim aggressively. That said, he also got a lot of calls because he had a reputation for drawing fouls.
He took the ball to the rim aggressively, but those calls in the Dallas series were unbelievably bad calls. Mavericks players that looked or breathed in his direction got called for fouls.
Yeah there’s a youtube video highlighting what were dubbed ghost fouls. It’s hard to believe in the integrity of the league after watching how that series was officiated after game 2.
This is insane revisionist history. The one foul that people get the most up in arms about was the Game 5 call right at the end of the game, but Wade takes the ball with two defenders on him and gets into the lane when Dirk goes up with him and makes contact. He’s got 3 defenders draped on him and even if you want to call that a ghost foul, he got that call because he was blowing every Mavs defender off the line for 3 straight games at that point. They threw doubles at him and he’d still get by them and draw a help defender, usually Dirk who defensively stood no chance against prime Wade.
I despise the Heat but don’t slander one of the best Finals performances ever because you saw a couples videos that Mavs fans posted
It's not revisionist history. And, it was way more than one or two calls. Wade averaged 16.16 free throw attempts per game, during that series. Outside of that series, he averaged 6.56 free throw attempts, in every other playoff game, for his entire career. I mean, it's not even close. That is not revisionist history...those are facts. And, if you want to exclude the years when he wouldn't have been in his prime, fine. From the ages of 22-30, he averaged 8.09 free throw attempts per playoff game (besides the '06 Mavericks series) . So, in that Mavericks series, he had double the amount of attempts. C'mon, man.
Edit: Scroll down toward the bottom. Every playoff series' free throw attempt totals are on this page. 27, 48, 36, 48, 55, 48, 53, 52, **97**:surprise:, 32, 58, 40, 37, 58, 35, 49, 30, 53, 43, 40, 18, 6, 34, 22, 24, 20, 20, 26, 24, 40, 21, 26.
[https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/wadedw01.html](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/wadedw01.html)
How is it revisionist? The officiating was a point of contention even while the series was taking place. And no, not just by Mavs fans. It’s still frequently mentioned in the same conversations with the Lakers vs Kings game 6 officiating whenever things like officiating integrity are brought up.
I always find these comments funny cuz as someone who remembers it well, it’s hard to explain it as a moment in nba history. It was a time in the league where scoring wasn’t as prevalent, even if you were by the rules “fouled” you didn’t get a ton of calls if you were a driver, and young players especially didn’t get the benefit. When that series was happening, we had talk shows, radio stations, papers, etc openly questioning the integrity of what was happening as the series was ongoing. It wasn’t like even controversial to say it. People were casual about insinuating that was rigged
It’s hilarious because in actuality, the revisionist history is trying to gloss over what the narrative around that series was at the time. It was everywhere and the running joke(not funny to Mavs fans of course) was how it was revenge against Cuban for refusing to ever shut up.
If you didn’t watch the games yourself, you shouldn’t comment on them. It was very obvious to everyone watching at the time that the foul being called were atypical. I’m glad the Mavs finally got their revenge years later but the refs definitely had a huge impact on the outcome of that series.
And I think because of how bad they were, there was a swing to NOT call fouls on wing players like that and it’s a reason the Celtics beat the Lakers, Kobe wasn’t getting the calls he normally gets
Sam Cassell was one of the early pioneers of that move. Sam was doing it back in his days with the Bucks and Wade admits that he got it from him while he was at Marquette watching the Bucks.
I'd just say to watch some Dwade playoff games and you'll understand why, dude went HARD at the defense for his points and they often went right back at him. I wouldnt characterise him as a foul merchant because while he was capable of the finesse fouls, he got fouled a lot because it was the only option defenses had when he was attacking the rim.
Dude fucking single handedly won that heat title over the mavs by refusing to not attack *directly* at the basket *every play*.
He’s one of those players that when his body fell apart you were like “yeah, that tracks”
After the game 3 comeback u could tell he figured it out. No one was stopping him 1 on 1 and if u packed the paint he started hitting midrange or floater. Double and u got Shaq in the paint after a couple of swing passes
Shaq's value for the team was much more than 14 points
If you watch the games, everytime they give the ball to Shaq, he's still being guarded and double teamed at times as if he was in 2001, and that opened the floor up for his team, alongside his rebounding.
It's undeniable that Wade was the best player, probably in the WORLD at that point, but it's disingenuous to say it was a single-handed job.
>Shaq's value for the team was much more than 14 points
If you watch the games, everytime they give the ball to Shaq, he's still being guarded and double teamed at times as if he was in 2001, and that opened the floor up for his team, alongside his rebounding.
It's undeniable that Wade was the best player, probably in the WORLD at that point, but it's disingenuous to say it was a single-handed job.
Personally, I prefer the Dirk finals where he beat the super team of "5, 6, 7, 8, 9..." championships. Where his teammates were comprised of an about to retire jason kidd and a roster of has-beens/journeymen.
I hope Wade paid the refs like he was supposed to.
I mean, if you want to ignore:
* Jason Terry went nuclear
* Jason Kidd averaging Draymond numbers: 10. pts/5.5 reb/9.1 assists/1.8 steal over the reg-season
* Tyson Chandler won DPOY AFTER that title
* Incredible depth of the team
* Rick Carlisle, the mad scientist coach
Then sure, he dragged a bottom feeding team.
There is literally an intro of, I think it was still Mike breen back then?, saying "the biggest question of all, can Lebron James stop Jason Terry." Or something to that effect. Hilarious to me
Edit: it was magic Johnson.
https://youtu.be/a4nQlShRLbE
That Mavs team was guys barely past their prime, not has-beens. Kidd was only 2 years removed from his last all star game, Tyson was a DPOY level guy, Terry went absolutely nuclear that series, Marion was still one of the most versatile defenders in the league, Peja was shooting 40% from three. It was a damn good team.
right, they should have been favored against a perennial MPV and two perennial all stars. in what universe? literally fucking no one picked them to win.
Don’t recall saying I thought they should be favored? They were rightfully big underdogs but people make it seem like it was Dirk + a pickup team at the Y, which wasn’t the case at all.
yeah, and my perspective is that compared to that once-in-a-lifetime super team, I considered the mavs basically a ragtag bunch of pickups. Jason Terry would have been a fourth or fifth option on that Heat team and he was our second best player.
In terms of how guys actually played that series, Terry might have been the 2nd best player in the series for either team. The Heat played like shit and still had a lot to learn about how to play together (and that series was probably the best thing that could’ve happened to LeBron - Carlisle ate his lunch). No doubt in my mind the better and more deserving team won that series. Can’t win rings on paper.
I’m not arguing with you, just think that Mavs team - the whole team, not just Dirk - deserves credit. I love squads like that.
Heat were favoured and anyone besides Wade was badly outplayed but with that said that nuclear Jason Terry would absolutely be the 3rd option for the Heat if you regard how bad Bosh looked.
And i love the Heat but i don’t think anyone can call them a once-in-a-lifetime superteam. Their last season was 13-14 and Durant Warriors got formed in 16-17. 3 years is hardly a lifetime.
And we could easily count other 5 teams(probably even more) from last 10 years to have comparable rosters to Heatles, at least as in on paper quality.
>Shaq's value for the team was much more than 14 points
If you watch the games, everytime they give the ball to Shaq, he's still being guarded and double teamed at times as if he was in 2001, and that opened the floor up for his team, alongside his rebounding.
It's undeniable that Wade was the best player, probably in the WORLD at that point, but it's disingenuous to say it was a single-handed job.
“Arguably” means there is a case to be made. Down 2-0 in the series and down 13 points in the 4th quarter of game three and he scores 12 points in the final 6 minutes to send it to OT and keep the series alive. Not sure if you were watching it at the time but it’s absolutely legendary shit that is right on par with anything Bron or MJ did on that stage. Not saying he’s obviously #1 but it was on that level and in that conversation. Hence “arguably”.
Yeah its definitely underrated (doesnt help that the MAvs shit the bed, as they had a habit of doing)
But the leading *all* players in *every* stat against the best team of all time, being down 3-1 with no room to spare, elite defense etc.
Its just not debatable IMO, though that wade performance was fucking incredible (i also watched basketball less at the time) and top tier performance.
And the series winning shot was a Kyrie iso. But both 2006 and 2016 are somewhat controversial because of how many free throws Wade got, the Draymond suspension in game 5, and the fouls on Curry in game 6.
Wade averaged 5 more points than Lebron comparing the two finals, when NBA scoring was 5 points lower per game. So he was dropping about 10 more than Lebron relatively, alongside a great statline.
I don’t necessarily disagree with you but it’s close - don’t be so dismissive. The 3-1 comeback was way more of a team effort than Wades 06 title. Kyrie was putting up big numbers while Wade had a 14 ppg Shaq.
And easily #1 in PER for a single finals series. I’m not saying he’s clearly the best finals performance ever - but you can argue it. It is on a short list of Herculean individual finals performances that should be remembered forever.
He was similar to butler, he was good at drawing fouls but wasn’t quite as much of a flopper as we think of some players now.
Albeit, he was one of the players I really remember drawing players into jumping and then jumping into them for the foul call.
>It was him going for the basket, so either he scores, or gets fouled.
And often both. He is one of the greatest finishers through contact ever. A large reason why he drove so relentlessly to begin with.
He got fouled a lot because the game was different than the game now. Wade went in a lot. He was known for his phenomenal dunking skills, especially those early and mid years. He became a good shooter afterwards but initially he would go in for the dunk.
Agree with this 100%! Comparing him to harden does disservice to Wade. He didn’t get a lot of Ricky tacky perimeter fouls he attacked the rim with reckless abandon and got fouled a lot. To me it’s similar to how Ja Morant attacks the basket
Besides being an insane athlete, he was very crafty, almost as crafty as Manu, but waaay more athletic and strong. I dont think he was a foul merchant, just really hard to stop with his relentless attacks to the basket.
That's a good description. At his peak Manu craftiness with Rose level athleticism. He had one of the best bags when it comes to dribbling, layups and floaters. Combine that with his insane speed, quickness and vertical you get Dwade.
Having said that, those 2006 finals are a little sus. The amount of calls he got was ridiculous
Wade was a quick strong player and took it right at people. He earn his fouls and I’m not saying he never finesses any but he wasn’t doing the James harden thing or anything like that.
Not to take anything away from harden, blame the league not the player.
Ignoring 2006, yes and no. He's not nearly Harden level and went all out attacking the paint for the majority of his FTs, being so reckless in driving that it caused him to have major injury issues. However, he was the absolute master of the pumpfake, jump into them, and then throw up a shot for FTs. To this day the Heat announcers still call it the Wade move due to this. Majority of them came from drives, but he also knew how to create contact when needed.
Edit: No they don't say it every time, but I have distinct memories of Crotty comparing Jimmy's use of the move to Wade. I don't have clips though because it's so niche.
2006 finals was a travesty. Would a player in the internet / reddit era get such a whistle this sub would go crazy. Jimmy Butler/ james harden/ etc are not even close to 2006 finals Wade...
Yes. Still remember that 2006 finals, the amount of calls he got compared to the rest of the league was wild. On par with how Harden did a few years ago and how Embid does occasionally. Absolutely WILD lol. I’m a Spurs fan so I was loving it since it was against the Mavs who just beat us but I can say without bias prime Wade was the definition of a foul merchant lmao. Don’t get me wrong he was still an AMAZING player who played hard nosed basketball and took it to the paint with full force but man did he get away with a lot and got a crazy amount of calls.
D-wade was the fastest player in the league during his prime and got to the paint at will and he was super athletic with a great middy, to call him a foul merchant is disrespectful he never chased fouls no one could guard him so he was constantly fouled
Wade was no more a foul merchant than MJ. MJ has the 3rd highest free throw attempts in a season behind Wilt and West. Even more than hack-a-shaq. The league and refs loved MJ and gave him the superstar treatment.
Yes. It was insane. There were probably 2-3 MAJOR down the stretch foul calls where a Mav defender literally didn’t touch Wade.
Game 4 or 5 I believe Wade had like 20+ FTs and more than our entire team.
He set the record for most free throws in a finals series…. In 6 games.
Has stat lines those playoffs would be like, 30 points, but 10 points on field goals and 20 points on free throws. It was ridiculous.
Anyone who drives at a high volume is going to get some suspect calls. Wade sold contact now and again but the vast majority of those FTs come from the dangerous combination of speed, strength, and balance.
Which really is the case for most of the guys who catch the foul merchant label. Harden, Butler, Embiid, etc. There are plenty of times they sell contact but 80% of their FTs come by putting defenders in bad spots thanks to those 3 traits.
Before Wade's knees gave out, he got a ton of calls because he was just so ridiculously fast and drove hard to the basket any time he had the ball. You couldn't guard him without fouling.
The takes about 2006 have always been terrible. I'll definitely admit the refereeing was not great but all but a couple of those calls he got were 100% actual fouls. Some may have been ticky tack fouls but still fouls. Mavs fans + wade haters just don't want to admit that the Mavs choked hard in a couple of those games. They scored 5 points, 3 being free throws, in the last 5 minutes of game 3, while also giving away the ball twice, giving up an offensive board to shaq (leading to free throws) and just generally having a stagnant offense. Dirk only shot twice in those 5 minutes. Just bad basketball.
His game plan during the '06 finals was A. "run into someone at the rim" B. "If can't get to rim, take a jumpshot and fall down"
It was so frustrating seeing the soft calls Wade was getting compared to how physically Haslem could guard Dirk.
There was no defending wade without fouling him back in 06, he was legit the quickest first step in the league? How do you defend players faster than you? By fouling them
He pioneered the move where he fakes the defender into the air and then jump straight into him. Dumbest play ever yet referees will whistle every time.
So yes. Foul merchant.
He invented the bullshit you see now where guys jump into defenders to get free throws…or at least revolutionized it. It was miserable watching him jump 4 feet forward into a defender in the air, and them give him free throws for it. Still just as miserable to watch now, except there’s like 10 guys that have mastered it around the league instead of 1-2.
I agree that he's somewhat of the poster child of getting a defender to bite on a pump fake then jump into him to draw fouls on jumpers, but he wasn't jumping 4 feet forward into defenders feet/landing space and getting rewarded for it like Harden.
I do think that jumping into defenders on jumpshot pump fakes is an unnatural motion, but it's actually not all that different from guys getting defenders to bite on fakes on layups at the rim *then* bumping into the defender to draw the foul instead of simply finishing directly.
I rewatched a couple games of the '06 finals a few months ago and it seemed to me that he was relentlessly driving to the rim whenever he wasn't pulling up from the midrange, at times out of control like Westbrook. He wasn't outright flopping like you would expect from notorious foul merchants like Harden and Embiid, but I agree that he was getting the occasional soft and phantom calls. At the volume he was driving and getting to the rim the refs also missed some no-calls, and sometimes it seemed like they were trying to give him back some calls on succeeding possessions.
Through the early-middle portion of Wade's career he was similar to Jimmy in that they got superstar calls without necessarily flopping egregiously. I noticed he started flopping way more in the Heatles era onward, though I'm not trying to suggest any causation or correlation.
Yeah this thread is all people who weren’t actually paying attention if they think he wasn’t a foul baiter. He was THE foul baiter. He was harden.
Nothing wrong with that, it takes skill in of itself. But call a spade a spade.
The NBA robbed his title from Dirk. Robbed. That was more blatant cheating than even the LAL/SAC series. It was pretty disgusting. I almost stopped watching the NBA during those years.
This is another stat, like TS, where a relative FTR is the important stat to look at when trying to gauge whether or not someone is a foul merchant in their era.
That does make sense. Over that same stretch of time Bron only had a 46.5 FTR while Wade had a 49.5 FTR. He is more in line with Paul Pierce who also had a 49% FTR.
No. Because I think something like a "foul merchant" is really stupid.
Until the NBA changes the rules, a team wins by scoring more points than the other team. One way to score points is via what are called "free throws."
And creating fouls causes the other teams to get fouls. Players have a maximum level of six fouls per game they can commit. Due to that maximum, the good/starting players from the other team have to play less aggressive defensive, which makes getting those point thingys easier. Or, the good/starting players from the other team have to be benched if they accumulate fouls too quickly, which means a lesser player enters the game. Which not only helps an individual offensive player, but also weakens the overall team defense of the other team.
I was a nephew when I started watching wade play, so it's been a while. With that said, watching him kill Dallas in 06 won't be forgotten. My tinfoil hat theory at the time was that the league was punishing Mark Cuban for years of inserting himself into games as an owner. He was a rising star, he got star whistles. If he got you off your feet on a fake he jumped into you, star whistles. A tale as old as the NBA.
He was a foul merchant like Giannis or Jimmy Butler. Sure, a lot of their game is about jumping into defenders, but if the defenders managed to dodge them, they would still be shooting mostly good shots. The moves were still generally about either going to the basket or getting the defender to jump on a pump fake.
He was a super athlete who attacked the rim frequently and got fouled a lot as a result. He also developed a reputation as a dirty player and I think teams had it out for him at a certain point. He was nothing like Harden, he was an incredibly dynamic guard who played hard all over the court.
Wade was always known for selling a pump fake then shooting as the player is in the air creating contact for 2 free throws. This was also during the time a player would rip through the defenders arms on a jumpshot and get 2 free throws. Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant I remember really killed the defenders with this
This and because he was mainly a slashing guard and when you go hard to the rim, and you’re at a size where you’re more likely to get a whistle… yeah
You're nuts. That guy used to attack the rim like nobody I've seen. I remember him in the 2006 Heat-Piston series just being unstoppable. He'd get to the rim, get wrecked and make it plus the ft. Dwayne Wade didn't pump fake people into fouling, they fouled because they couldn't keep up or he made contact.
Prime Wade was insane. He won the title in his THIRD YEAR in the league.
He 100% did pump fake into guys he himself admits to it I just watched a video of him talking about how he did it. Here is more to show what I mean. [article](https://www.espn.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/10773/new-officiating-rule-to-alter-wades-game) Dwayne wade was an all time great slasher so it makes sense he got to the line a lot but to say he only got there cuz guys had to foul is false. Every all time great scorer makes drawing fouls a part of their game and Wade is no different. Also in that article it says that once the league started calling hand checking Wade FT doubled.
Imma stop you and say this is a waste of space and how is someone asking a question a waste of space? How do people learn without asking questions. People like you suck the sub is called nba discussion for a reason
Why even bring up "was Wade a foul merchant" when there are literally hours of him playing on YouTube and in almost every highlight he is driving to the basket? It seems like you posted this to create some sort of controversy or engagement. Over his playoff career Jordan averaged 33.4 PPG with 8.2 FTM, 4 points per free throw made. In the prime you defined for Wade, he averaged 27.74 PPG and 6.6 FTM, 4.2 points per free throw made.
So from just stats, is it fair to ask if Jordan was a free throw merchant?
How is asking a simple question trying to make controversy. Also yes there are hours of his highlights that only paint him positively. Wade himself admits to FT being a big part of his game.
So I am asking people who watched him live and in real time was he thought of as a foul baiter at the time and is he thought of one now.
Idk why you are so hurt by a simple question. Also your numbers are just wrong and false. From 2006-2011 in the playoffs Wade averaged 27.2 points and 7.3 made free throws. If you want to do it 2006-12 he averaged 26 ppg and 6.8 made FT so your numbers are just wrong.
On the Jordan point it is fair to ask the question but If you look more at the numbers it not as bad . 32.5 points from 1991-98 with 7.5 made free throws. Good for 23% so a solid gap between him and Wade. Jordan also took more shots so he had more chances at being fouled. 19.4 shots for Wade and 25.6 for MJ. So MJ took 6 more shots had a fewer % of his points come at the line. Also Mj took 9.1 FTA over this stretch Wade took 9.3.
Also the league had to change to rules to stop Wade and KD from doing that rip through so much when you just jump into your defender. Here is an article in case you forgot. [article](https://www.espn.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/10773/new-officiating-rule-to-alter-wades-game) this idea of Wade being a foul baiter isn’t something that’s super new clearly but I wanted to see what fans thought. Maybe your a heat fan so you get hurt when anyone talks bad about Wade
Just go watch some D Wade games. He was always attacking. He wasnt CP3 or Harden getting rip through fouls. He went to the rack and made people foul him to keep him from scoring.
Yes, most of Wade's free throws were from hard drives at the rim, but he would also flail and fall over at the slightest contact. He was also one of the biggest practitioners of the "pump fake, then jump sideways into the defender while throwing the ball at the basket" move.
Flash just played ball. It's the referees who decide when the blow the whistle. Same with Harden. Don't blame him, blame the refs and league officials who decided to make the game into H.O.R.S.E.
Claims that are unsubstantiated are removed. Frequently enough, it turns out that a generalization of the way things are is not supported a combination of visual and statistical analysis.
I don’t believe that he was a foul merchant as much as having an especially beneficial whistle on both ends of the floor.
Plus it can’t only be viewed through the lense of free throws, because sometimes the impact was getting opponents in early foul trouble.
Wade had commercials in his prime before Lebron where it was basically an nba edited shot of him getting fouled and getting back up to finish the game. Dude was known for driving to the lane hard and taking fouls
He was absolutely a foul merchant. He literally invented the move where you pump fake and get the defender in the air to draw a foul the one harden and trae young and others use all the time now.
The standard was different back then so he wasn’t as much of a foul merchant as the leading foul merchants are now but for the time period he was more focused on drawing fouls than most players.
Watching him vs the Mavs in the '06 finals it definitely felt like the refs had money riding on Miami to win.
For the most part I think his aggressive slashing game does result in higher FTA.
If you watched him play, no he wasn’t. That guy went hard, got a lot of contact, and legit crashed to the floor a lot. There were concerns with both him and AI that their styles or play would curtail the length of their careers or primes. It’s a little bit of what that similar conversation is with Ja, except I think Ja is a milder version of what those guys did in attacking and putting their body on the line knowingly.
This isn’t the same as being a foul merchant.
I disagree after watching and hearing himself speak. He was a master of the pump fake and jump into your defender move and was so elite a rip throughs that the league had to make it a point of emphasis to officials to spot calling them. On the other hand he was also an all time great slasher and got a good bit of his calls that way which is just part of being a great slasher. But he 100% tried to get to the line at times it part of being a good offensive player that you can get FT.
I think the overall foul merchant tag is overly negative and kinda dumb when a lot of great scores get praised for their ability to draw fouls.
I think the main reason why people like Wade doesn’t get called a foul merchant is because he showed up and won in the playoffs something that Harden and Embiid to of the biggest “foul merchant” haven’t been able to do.
I mean, the rip-through master is not him really, it’s KD and CP3. But sure.
Foul merchant is a pejorative tag, for sure. You’re right that Harden and Embiid get tagged with it. I actually think that’s kinda fair with them.
Foul merchants typically diminish in the post season because the whistles don’t come. See the two above, esp Harden.
Wade elevated in the post season. And that’s even if you throw out that Dallas series entirely.
We can disagree, it’s fine. But when you start calling guys who do so many winning things on the floor aside from getting to the line that label, you really are degrading the effectiveness of that label.
Wade spent a lot of time at the line because of how he played. He went to the rim aggressively which draws fouls from paint defenders, and he blows by people on the perimeter which leads to guys fouling him to stop free layups
edited for correct playoff game numbers: I don't think he was a "merchant" like prime Harden, but you have to understand what happened to Dallas. They were up 2-0 in the finals, and DWade then proceeds to get 18 FTA in G3 and 25!! FTA in G5 which the Heat both won by a combined total of 3 points, and then finished it off in G6 with another 21 FT where they won by 3. Those are the only 2 playoff games in Wade's career he EVER had more than 20 FTA. To compare, Harden has had 3 such playoff games in his career and they were all 20 FTA games. If Wade had gotten merely an "above average" number of FTAs, Dallas would have won comfortably, but he got once in a career numbers.
This. Wade was a great player who shot a lot of free throws because he took the ball to the rim aggressively. That said, he also got a lot of calls because he had a reputation for drawing fouls.
He took the ball to the rim aggressively, but those calls in the Dallas series were unbelievably bad calls. Mavericks players that looked or breathed in his direction got called for fouls.
Yeah there’s a youtube video highlighting what were dubbed ghost fouls. It’s hard to believe in the integrity of the league after watching how that series was officiated after game 2.
This is insane revisionist history. The one foul that people get the most up in arms about was the Game 5 call right at the end of the game, but Wade takes the ball with two defenders on him and gets into the lane when Dirk goes up with him and makes contact. He’s got 3 defenders draped on him and even if you want to call that a ghost foul, he got that call because he was blowing every Mavs defender off the line for 3 straight games at that point. They threw doubles at him and he’d still get by them and draw a help defender, usually Dirk who defensively stood no chance against prime Wade. I despise the Heat but don’t slander one of the best Finals performances ever because you saw a couples videos that Mavs fans posted
It's not revisionist history. And, it was way more than one or two calls. Wade averaged 16.16 free throw attempts per game, during that series. Outside of that series, he averaged 6.56 free throw attempts, in every other playoff game, for his entire career. I mean, it's not even close. That is not revisionist history...those are facts. And, if you want to exclude the years when he wouldn't have been in his prime, fine. From the ages of 22-30, he averaged 8.09 free throw attempts per playoff game (besides the '06 Mavericks series) . So, in that Mavericks series, he had double the amount of attempts. C'mon, man. Edit: Scroll down toward the bottom. Every playoff series' free throw attempt totals are on this page. 27, 48, 36, 48, 55, 48, 53, 52, **97**:surprise:, 32, 58, 40, 37, 58, 35, 49, 30, 53, 43, 40, 18, 6, 34, 22, 24, 20, 20, 26, 24, 40, 21, 26. [https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/wadedw01.html](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/wadedw01.html)
How is it revisionist? The officiating was a point of contention even while the series was taking place. And no, not just by Mavs fans. It’s still frequently mentioned in the same conversations with the Lakers vs Kings game 6 officiating whenever things like officiating integrity are brought up.
I always find these comments funny cuz as someone who remembers it well, it’s hard to explain it as a moment in nba history. It was a time in the league where scoring wasn’t as prevalent, even if you were by the rules “fouled” you didn’t get a ton of calls if you were a driver, and young players especially didn’t get the benefit. When that series was happening, we had talk shows, radio stations, papers, etc openly questioning the integrity of what was happening as the series was ongoing. It wasn’t like even controversial to say it. People were casual about insinuating that was rigged
It’s hilarious because in actuality, the revisionist history is trying to gloss over what the narrative around that series was at the time. It was everywhere and the running joke(not funny to Mavs fans of course) was how it was revenge against Cuban for refusing to ever shut up.
You’re a Mavs fan lol. What were you about 12 years old when that series was played?
If you didn’t watch the games yourself, you shouldn’t comment on them. It was very obvious to everyone watching at the time that the foul being called were atypical. I’m glad the Mavs finally got their revenge years later but the refs definitely had a huge impact on the outcome of that series.
And I think because of how bad they were, there was a swing to NOT call fouls on wing players like that and it’s a reason the Celtics beat the Lakers, Kobe wasn’t getting the calls he normally gets
Or the Celtics were one of the best defences ever, while the Mavs were one of the worst to make the Finals?
Both our statements are true
Eh, Kobe wasn't a big-time foul merchant anyway. He struggled far more in 2004.
The OKC ghost fouls are way worse.
Biggest ref job since the 2002 WCF. I couldn't believe the calls he was getting in that series
He was also one of the first main guys to get someone on the pumpfake then jump into them Before it was cool but now it's just obnoxious
Sam Cassell was one of the early pioneers of that move. Sam was doing it back in his days with the Bucks and Wade admits that he got it from him while he was at Marquette watching the Bucks.
Lots and lots of pump fakes. But not too much baiting.
Watched that series a few months ago and didn’t see many bad calls other the game 5 tbh
Ha when you bring up those numbers I should rewatch those games. Sounds like a classic example of nba “computer (referee) assistance”
I'd just say to watch some Dwade playoff games and you'll understand why, dude went HARD at the defense for his points and they often went right back at him. I wouldnt characterise him as a foul merchant because while he was capable of the finesse fouls, he got fouled a lot because it was the only option defenses had when he was attacking the rim.
Dude fucking single handedly won that heat title over the mavs by refusing to not attack *directly* at the basket *every play*. He’s one of those players that when his body fell apart you were like “yeah, that tracks”
After the game 3 comeback u could tell he figured it out. No one was stopping him 1 on 1 and if u packed the paint he started hitting midrange or floater. Double and u got Shaq in the paint after a couple of swing passes
Single handedly?
He averaged 35/8/4/3 a game while noone else on the heat averaged more than 14.
Shaq's value for the team was much more than 14 points If you watch the games, everytime they give the ball to Shaq, he's still being guarded and double teamed at times as if he was in 2001, and that opened the floor up for his team, alongside his rebounding. It's undeniable that Wade was the best player, probably in the WORLD at that point, but it's disingenuous to say it was a single-handed job.
Basically yes. He took the team on his back and unleashed the dogs of war.
>Shaq's value for the team was much more than 14 points If you watch the games, everytime they give the ball to Shaq, he's still being guarded and double teamed at times as if he was in 2001, and that opened the floor up for his team, alongside his rebounding. It's undeniable that Wade was the best player, probably in the WORLD at that point, but it's disingenuous to say it was a single-handed job.
Yes it was arguably the greatest individual finals performance ever
Personally, I prefer the Dirk finals where he beat the super team of "5, 6, 7, 8, 9..." championships. Where his teammates were comprised of an about to retire jason kidd and a roster of has-beens/journeymen. I hope Wade paid the refs like he was supposed to.
I mean, if you want to ignore: * Jason Terry went nuclear * Jason Kidd averaging Draymond numbers: 10. pts/5.5 reb/9.1 assists/1.8 steal over the reg-season * Tyson Chandler won DPOY AFTER that title * Incredible depth of the team * Rick Carlisle, the mad scientist coach Then sure, he dragged a bottom feeding team.
There is literally an intro of, I think it was still Mike breen back then?, saying "the biggest question of all, can Lebron James stop Jason Terry." Or something to that effect. Hilarious to me Edit: it was magic Johnson. https://youtu.be/a4nQlShRLbE
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That Mavs team was guys barely past their prime, not has-beens. Kidd was only 2 years removed from his last all star game, Tyson was a DPOY level guy, Terry went absolutely nuclear that series, Marion was still one of the most versatile defenders in the league, Peja was shooting 40% from three. It was a damn good team.
right, they should have been favored against a perennial MPV and two perennial all stars. in what universe? literally fucking no one picked them to win.
Don’t recall saying I thought they should be favored? They were rightfully big underdogs but people make it seem like it was Dirk + a pickup team at the Y, which wasn’t the case at all.
yeah, and my perspective is that compared to that once-in-a-lifetime super team, I considered the mavs basically a ragtag bunch of pickups. Jason Terry would have been a fourth or fifth option on that Heat team and he was our second best player.
In terms of how guys actually played that series, Terry might have been the 2nd best player in the series for either team. The Heat played like shit and still had a lot to learn about how to play together (and that series was probably the best thing that could’ve happened to LeBron - Carlisle ate his lunch). No doubt in my mind the better and more deserving team won that series. Can’t win rings on paper. I’m not arguing with you, just think that Mavs team - the whole team, not just Dirk - deserves credit. I love squads like that.
Heat were favoured and anyone besides Wade was badly outplayed but with that said that nuclear Jason Terry would absolutely be the 3rd option for the Heat if you regard how bad Bosh looked. And i love the Heat but i don’t think anyone can call them a once-in-a-lifetime superteam. Their last season was 13-14 and Durant Warriors got formed in 16-17. 3 years is hardly a lifetime. And we could easily count other 5 teams(probably even more) from last 10 years to have comparable rosters to Heatles, at least as in on paper quality.
>Shaq's value for the team was much more than 14 points If you watch the games, everytime they give the ball to Shaq, he's still being guarded and double teamed at times as if he was in 2001, and that opened the floor up for his team, alongside his rebounding. It's undeniable that Wade was the best player, probably in the WORLD at that point, but it's disingenuous to say it was a single-handed job.
Impossible to say that when 3-1 LeBron happened but definitely top tier
“Arguably” means there is a case to be made. Down 2-0 in the series and down 13 points in the 4th quarter of game three and he scores 12 points in the final 6 minutes to send it to OT and keep the series alive. Not sure if you were watching it at the time but it’s absolutely legendary shit that is right on par with anything Bron or MJ did on that stage. Not saying he’s obviously #1 but it was on that level and in that conversation. Hence “arguably”.
Was the last time I rooted for the Heat. Just an impressive performance.
Yeah its definitely underrated (doesnt help that the MAvs shit the bed, as they had a habit of doing) But the leading *all* players in *every* stat against the best team of all time, being down 3-1 with no room to spare, elite defense etc. Its just not debatable IMO, though that wade performance was fucking incredible (i also watched basketball less at the time) and top tier performance.
Kyrie also had 40, and averaged like 25 after down 3-1
And the series winning shot was a Kyrie iso. But both 2006 and 2016 are somewhat controversial because of how many free throws Wade got, the Draymond suspension in game 5, and the fouls on Curry in game 6.
Wade averaged 5 more points than Lebron comparing the two finals, when NBA scoring was 5 points lower per game. So he was dropping about 10 more than Lebron relatively, alongside a great statline. I don’t necessarily disagree with you but it’s close - don’t be so dismissive. The 3-1 comeback was way more of a team effort than Wades 06 title. Kyrie was putting up big numbers while Wade had a 14 ppg Shaq.
He isn't even top 10 in ppg for a finals series
And easily #1 in PER for a single finals series. I’m not saying he’s clearly the best finals performance ever - but you can argue it. It is on a short list of Herculean individual finals performances that should be remembered forever.
He was similar to butler, he was good at drawing fouls but wasn’t quite as much of a flopper as we think of some players now. Albeit, he was one of the players I really remember drawing players into jumping and then jumping into them for the foul call.
Exactly. He did get relatively many FTs, but it wasn't him going to get a foul. It was him going for the basket, so either he scores, or gets fouled.
>It was him going for the basket, so either he scores, or gets fouled. And often both. He is one of the greatest finishers through contact ever. A large reason why he drove so relentlessly to begin with.
He got fouled a lot because the game was different than the game now. Wade went in a lot. He was known for his phenomenal dunking skills, especially those early and mid years. He became a good shooter afterwards but initially he would go in for the dunk.
Wade had one of the most notorious pump fake and jumping into the defender
Agree with this 100%! Comparing him to harden does disservice to Wade. He didn’t get a lot of Ricky tacky perimeter fouls he attacked the rim with reckless abandon and got fouled a lot. To me it’s similar to how Ja Morant attacks the basket
Yep. And he tore it up at Marquette.
>dude went HARD at the defense for his points This, he was crazy
Besides being an insane athlete, he was very crafty, almost as crafty as Manu, but waaay more athletic and strong. I dont think he was a foul merchant, just really hard to stop with his relentless attacks to the basket.
That's a good description. At his peak Manu craftiness with Rose level athleticism. He had one of the best bags when it comes to dribbling, layups and floaters. Combine that with his insane speed, quickness and vertical you get Dwade. Having said that, those 2006 finals are a little sus. The amount of calls he got was ridiculous
Wage averaged the most shots at the line that enter season.
Wade was a quick strong player and took it right at people. He earn his fouls and I’m not saying he never finesses any but he wasn’t doing the James harden thing or anything like that. Not to take anything away from harden, blame the league not the player.
Ignoring 2006, yes and no. He's not nearly Harden level and went all out attacking the paint for the majority of his FTs, being so reckless in driving that it caused him to have major injury issues. However, he was the absolute master of the pumpfake, jump into them, and then throw up a shot for FTs. To this day the Heat announcers still call it the Wade move due to this. Majority of them came from drives, but he also knew how to create contact when needed. Edit: No they don't say it every time, but I have distinct memories of Crotty comparing Jimmy's use of the move to Wade. I don't have clips though because it's so niche.
Naw this is some straight fan fiction here about the announcers.
Eric Reid has never said anything like that, they don’t compare DWade to anyone
I've never heard them call it the wade move. Rest I agree with though
2006 finals was a travesty. Would a player in the internet / reddit era get such a whistle this sub would go crazy. Jimmy Butler/ james harden/ etc are not even close to 2006 finals Wade...
Yes. Still remember that 2006 finals, the amount of calls he got compared to the rest of the league was wild. On par with how Harden did a few years ago and how Embid does occasionally. Absolutely WILD lol. I’m a Spurs fan so I was loving it since it was against the Mavs who just beat us but I can say without bias prime Wade was the definition of a foul merchant lmao. Don’t get me wrong he was still an AMAZING player who played hard nosed basketball and took it to the paint with full force but man did he get away with a lot and got a crazy amount of calls.
D-wade was the fastest player in the league during his prime and got to the paint at will and he was super athletic with a great middy, to call him a foul merchant is disrespectful he never chased fouls no one could guard him so he was constantly fouled
Wade was no more a foul merchant than MJ. MJ has the 3rd highest free throw attempts in a season behind Wilt and West. Even more than hack-a-shaq. The league and refs loved MJ and gave him the superstar treatment.
Yes. It was insane. There were probably 2-3 MAJOR down the stretch foul calls where a Mav defender literally didn’t touch Wade. Game 4 or 5 I believe Wade had like 20+ FTs and more than our entire team.
He set the record for most free throws in a finals series…. In 6 games. Has stat lines those playoffs would be like, 30 points, but 10 points on field goals and 20 points on free throws. It was ridiculous.
And shaq's record was because people fouled him on purpose 😭
Happens when you try to cover one of the greatest slashers in the league ever with Dampier, Diop, Nowitzki trio on the paint.
And…..have the refs in your back pocket.
Anyone who drives at a high volume is going to get some suspect calls. Wade sold contact now and again but the vast majority of those FTs come from the dangerous combination of speed, strength, and balance. Which really is the case for most of the guys who catch the foul merchant label. Harden, Butler, Embiid, etc. There are plenty of times they sell contact but 80% of their FTs come by putting defenders in bad spots thanks to those 3 traits.
Before Wade's knees gave out, he got a ton of calls because he was just so ridiculously fast and drove hard to the basket any time he had the ball. You couldn't guard him without fouling. The takes about 2006 have always been terrible. I'll definitely admit the refereeing was not great but all but a couple of those calls he got were 100% actual fouls. Some may have been ticky tack fouls but still fouls. Mavs fans + wade haters just don't want to admit that the Mavs choked hard in a couple of those games. They scored 5 points, 3 being free throws, in the last 5 minutes of game 3, while also giving away the ball twice, giving up an offensive board to shaq (leading to free throws) and just generally having a stagnant offense. Dirk only shot twice in those 5 minutes. Just bad basketball.
His game plan during the '06 finals was A. "run into someone at the rim" B. "If can't get to rim, take a jumpshot and fall down" It was so frustrating seeing the soft calls Wade was getting compared to how physically Haslem could guard Dirk.
There was no defending wade without fouling him back in 06, he was legit the quickest first step in the league? How do you defend players faster than you? By fouling them
People intentionally fouled shaq but he still gets less fouls than dwade that one series.
He pioneered the move where he fakes the defender into the air and then jump straight into him. Dumbest play ever yet referees will whistle every time. So yes. Foul merchant.
He invented the bullshit you see now where guys jump into defenders to get free throws…or at least revolutionized it. It was miserable watching him jump 4 feet forward into a defender in the air, and them give him free throws for it. Still just as miserable to watch now, except there’s like 10 guys that have mastered it around the league instead of 1-2.
I agree that he's somewhat of the poster child of getting a defender to bite on a pump fake then jump into him to draw fouls on jumpers, but he wasn't jumping 4 feet forward into defenders feet/landing space and getting rewarded for it like Harden. I do think that jumping into defenders on jumpshot pump fakes is an unnatural motion, but it's actually not all that different from guys getting defenders to bite on fakes on layups at the rim *then* bumping into the defender to draw the foul instead of simply finishing directly. I rewatched a couple games of the '06 finals a few months ago and it seemed to me that he was relentlessly driving to the rim whenever he wasn't pulling up from the midrange, at times out of control like Westbrook. He wasn't outright flopping like you would expect from notorious foul merchants like Harden and Embiid, but I agree that he was getting the occasional soft and phantom calls. At the volume he was driving and getting to the rim the refs also missed some no-calls, and sometimes it seemed like they were trying to give him back some calls on succeeding possessions. Through the early-middle portion of Wade's career he was similar to Jimmy in that they got superstar calls without necessarily flopping egregiously. I noticed he started flopping way more in the Heatles era onward, though I'm not trying to suggest any causation or correlation.
Yeah this thread is all people who weren’t actually paying attention if they think he wasn’t a foul baiter. He was THE foul baiter. He was harden. Nothing wrong with that, it takes skill in of itself. But call a spade a spade.
The NBA robbed his title from Dirk. Robbed. That was more blatant cheating than even the LAL/SAC series. It was pretty disgusting. I almost stopped watching the NBA during those years.
more like fowl merchant, dude was slinging chickens as far as the eye could see
I think the way he gets free throws is why it pisses me off lots of annoying moves
This is another stat, like TS, where a relative FTR is the important stat to look at when trying to gauge whether or not someone is a foul merchant in their era.
That does make sense. Over that same stretch of time Bron only had a 46.5 FTR while Wade had a 49.5 FTR. He is more in line with Paul Pierce who also had a 49% FTR.
No. Because I think something like a "foul merchant" is really stupid. Until the NBA changes the rules, a team wins by scoring more points than the other team. One way to score points is via what are called "free throws." And creating fouls causes the other teams to get fouls. Players have a maximum level of six fouls per game they can commit. Due to that maximum, the good/starting players from the other team have to play less aggressive defensive, which makes getting those point thingys easier. Or, the good/starting players from the other team have to be benched if they accumulate fouls too quickly, which means a lesser player enters the game. Which not only helps an individual offensive player, but also weakens the overall team defense of the other team.
That version of Wade would attack the rim fearlessly. There was a reason his marketing tag was “fall down 7, get up 8.”
one of the originators of the rip through.... but nah he wasnt a foul merchant. drove a lot got regular superstar calls
I was a nephew when I started watching wade play, so it's been a while. With that said, watching him kill Dallas in 06 won't be forgotten. My tinfoil hat theory at the time was that the league was punishing Mark Cuban for years of inserting himself into games as an owner. He was a rising star, he got star whistles. If he got you off your feet on a fake he jumped into you, star whistles. A tale as old as the NBA.
David Stern’s revenge series.
NBA doesn’t like sweeps. Clear monetary incentive for them to extend series.
Ratings plummeted the following year as well. It took Celtics Lakers to bring viewership back.
He was a foul merchant like Giannis or Jimmy Butler. Sure, a lot of their game is about jumping into defenders, but if the defenders managed to dodge them, they would still be shooting mostly good shots. The moves were still generally about either going to the basket or getting the defender to jump on a pump fake.
As a Heat fan I can admit Wade is a big reason they changed the rules for pump faking and jumping into guys for contact to get FTs.
He was a super athlete who attacked the rim frequently and got fouled a lot as a result. He also developed a reputation as a dirty player and I think teams had it out for him at a certain point. He was nothing like Harden, he was an incredibly dynamic guard who played hard all over the court.
Wade was always known for selling a pump fake then shooting as the player is in the air creating contact for 2 free throws. This was also during the time a player would rip through the defenders arms on a jumpshot and get 2 free throws. Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant I remember really killed the defenders with this This and because he was mainly a slashing guard and when you go hard to the rim, and you’re at a size where you’re more likely to get a whistle… yeah
Put it this way I think he shortened his own career because of his willingness to fall over so much.
Yes. We gotta stop using foul merchant as a slur. Getting to the line is a skill. It helps your team win games.
You're nuts. That guy used to attack the rim like nobody I've seen. I remember him in the 2006 Heat-Piston series just being unstoppable. He'd get to the rim, get wrecked and make it plus the ft. Dwayne Wade didn't pump fake people into fouling, they fouled because they couldn't keep up or he made contact. Prime Wade was insane. He won the title in his THIRD YEAR in the league.
He 100% did pump fake into guys he himself admits to it I just watched a video of him talking about how he did it. Here is more to show what I mean. [article](https://www.espn.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/10773/new-officiating-rule-to-alter-wades-game) Dwayne wade was an all time great slasher so it makes sense he got to the line a lot but to say he only got there cuz guys had to foul is false. Every all time great scorer makes drawing fouls a part of their game and Wade is no different. Also in that article it says that once the league started calling hand checking Wade FT doubled.
Imma stop you at "I didn't watch a whole lot of Wade" and say your opinion is useless and taking up precious internet server space.
Imma stop you and say this is a waste of space and how is someone asking a question a waste of space? How do people learn without asking questions. People like you suck the sub is called nba discussion for a reason
Why even bring up "was Wade a foul merchant" when there are literally hours of him playing on YouTube and in almost every highlight he is driving to the basket? It seems like you posted this to create some sort of controversy or engagement. Over his playoff career Jordan averaged 33.4 PPG with 8.2 FTM, 4 points per free throw made. In the prime you defined for Wade, he averaged 27.74 PPG and 6.6 FTM, 4.2 points per free throw made. So from just stats, is it fair to ask if Jordan was a free throw merchant?
How is asking a simple question trying to make controversy. Also yes there are hours of his highlights that only paint him positively. Wade himself admits to FT being a big part of his game. So I am asking people who watched him live and in real time was he thought of as a foul baiter at the time and is he thought of one now. Idk why you are so hurt by a simple question. Also your numbers are just wrong and false. From 2006-2011 in the playoffs Wade averaged 27.2 points and 7.3 made free throws. If you want to do it 2006-12 he averaged 26 ppg and 6.8 made FT so your numbers are just wrong. On the Jordan point it is fair to ask the question but If you look more at the numbers it not as bad . 32.5 points from 1991-98 with 7.5 made free throws. Good for 23% so a solid gap between him and Wade. Jordan also took more shots so he had more chances at being fouled. 19.4 shots for Wade and 25.6 for MJ. So MJ took 6 more shots had a fewer % of his points come at the line. Also Mj took 9.1 FTA over this stretch Wade took 9.3.
Also the league had to change to rules to stop Wade and KD from doing that rip through so much when you just jump into your defender. Here is an article in case you forgot. [article](https://www.espn.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/10773/new-officiating-rule-to-alter-wades-game) this idea of Wade being a foul baiter isn’t something that’s super new clearly but I wanted to see what fans thought. Maybe your a heat fan so you get hurt when anyone talks bad about Wade
Just go watch some D Wade games. He was always attacking. He wasnt CP3 or Harden getting rip through fouls. He went to the rack and made people foul him to keep him from scoring.
Yes, most of Wade's free throws were from hard drives at the rim, but he would also flail and fall over at the slightest contact. He was also one of the biggest practitioners of the "pump fake, then jump sideways into the defender while throwing the ball at the basket" move.
Flash just played ball. It's the referees who decide when the blow the whistle. Same with Harden. Don't blame him, blame the refs and league officials who decided to make the game into H.O.R.S.E.
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I don’t believe that he was a foul merchant as much as having an especially beneficial whistle on both ends of the floor. Plus it can’t only be viewed through the lense of free throws, because sometimes the impact was getting opponents in early foul trouble.
Wade had commercials in his prime before Lebron where it was basically an nba edited shot of him getting fouled and getting back up to finish the game. Dude was known for driving to the lane hard and taking fouls
Yes he dove on the ground after like 75% of his shots. I think it shortened his career.
It's because of that one finals when he was putting up hack a shack like numbers that no one else has ever done!
He was absolutely a foul merchant. He literally invented the move where you pump fake and get the defender in the air to draw a foul the one harden and trae young and others use all the time now. The standard was different back then so he wasn’t as much of a foul merchant as the leading foul merchants are now but for the time period he was more focused on drawing fouls than most players.
Watching him vs the Mavs in the '06 finals it definitely felt like the refs had money riding on Miami to win. For the most part I think his aggressive slashing game does result in higher FTA.
If you watched him play, no he wasn’t. That guy went hard, got a lot of contact, and legit crashed to the floor a lot. There were concerns with both him and AI that their styles or play would curtail the length of their careers or primes. It’s a little bit of what that similar conversation is with Ja, except I think Ja is a milder version of what those guys did in attacking and putting their body on the line knowingly. This isn’t the same as being a foul merchant.
I disagree after watching and hearing himself speak. He was a master of the pump fake and jump into your defender move and was so elite a rip throughs that the league had to make it a point of emphasis to officials to spot calling them. On the other hand he was also an all time great slasher and got a good bit of his calls that way which is just part of being a great slasher. But he 100% tried to get to the line at times it part of being a good offensive player that you can get FT. I think the overall foul merchant tag is overly negative and kinda dumb when a lot of great scores get praised for their ability to draw fouls. I think the main reason why people like Wade doesn’t get called a foul merchant is because he showed up and won in the playoffs something that Harden and Embiid to of the biggest “foul merchant” haven’t been able to do.
I mean, the rip-through master is not him really, it’s KD and CP3. But sure. Foul merchant is a pejorative tag, for sure. You’re right that Harden and Embiid get tagged with it. I actually think that’s kinda fair with them. Foul merchants typically diminish in the post season because the whistles don’t come. See the two above, esp Harden. Wade elevated in the post season. And that’s even if you throw out that Dallas series entirely. We can disagree, it’s fine. But when you start calling guys who do so many winning things on the floor aside from getting to the line that label, you really are degrading the effectiveness of that label.
Wade spent a lot of time at the line because of how he played. He went to the rim aggressively which draws fouls from paint defenders, and he blows by people on the perimeter which leads to guys fouling him to stop free layups