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Dwyane Wade on struggles of LeBron’s Cavs: “I’m sure he’ll figure it out”

Dwyane Wade knows something about the struggles LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are going through right now. The two of them experienced much of the same thing in 2010-11, the year James and Chris Bosh joined Wade in Miami. That team started off the season 9-8 and endured plenty of scrutiny before eventually making it to the NBA Finals.

Wade has seen enough to know that James’ Cavs aren’t going to struggle for very long. From Joe Goodman of the Miami Herald:

“He has all the tools he needs,” Wade said. “We’ve been through it together where we ran into struggles as a team. You’re going to do that in the season whether it’s in the beginning of the season, or sometimes in the middle or sometimes at the end. He’s a four-time MVP. He’s a two-time champion. I’m sure he’ll figure it out as a leader.”

Wade’s right, and he speaks from experience. The Cavs, in addition to James, have two more of the best players in the NBA in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. But Irving is a ball-dominant player, and the defense isn’t there yet. Their coach, David Blatt, has never coached in the NBA before and is attempting to install a complex offensive scheme. There are going to be bumps in the road at the beginning.

But there’s no reason to think the Cavs aren’t going to figure it out, just as the Heat did when they went on to make four straight Finals and win two NBA titles in a row. James is wiser now, and he’s grown considerably as a leader. If anybody is in a position to put all of these pieces together, it’s James. His former teammate Wade knows that better than anybody.