Dwyane Wade is not letting Rudy Gay disrespect the Miami Heat’s 2013 NBA title run.
Days after Gay claimed the Memphis Grizzlies would have beaten Wade’s Heat in 2013 had he not been traded midway through the season, Wade brought some artillery of his own. For the 2006 finals MVP, the “Grit N’ Grind” squad had no business dealing with the “Heatles” during that time.
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“I sent a DM to Rudy,” Wade said on the Wy Network. “‘Hey Rudy, this must be an AI-generated because it ain’t no way in hell you said this. So, he hit me back, ‘Yeah, I said it. You gotta have confidence.’ I said, ‘Boy, Belt 2 Ass.’”
“I said, ‘Hey, man, what’s wrong with you? You’re not just going to win the finals just because you think could win the finals. Bro, We had just been there four years in a row. We’re smacking y’all. You don’t know how to win in the Finals, bro,” Flash confidently added.
The Grizzlies were almost there
As D-Wade reiterated in that podcast segment, nothing was easy about winning a championship. After all, Gay’s presence may have had the opposite effect on Memphis, a team that reached the conference finals after trading him in a six-player, three-team transaction before the 2013 trade deadline.
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In place of Gay, the franchise brought in Tayshaun Prince from the Detroit Pistons. (Gay was dealt to Toronto amidst the chaos.) This development forced Lionel Hollins to go all in on their defensive identity, starting Prince alongside Tony Allen, Mike Conley, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol.
The defensive-minded squad rolled through the first two rounds of the Western Conference that year. Memphis handled the Los Angeles Clippers and the Oklahoma City Thunder quite easily. The Grizzlies dispatched the Kevin Durant-Russell Westbrook duo in five games after eliminating the Clippers in six.
That feat earned them a ticket to face the San Antonio Spurs, the very same squad they upset in the first round of the 2011 postseason. However, this time around, things were different. San Antonio was ready to deal with a one-trick pony.
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As a result, the Grizzlies’ lack of a reliable perimeter scoring option allowed the Spurs to pack the paint, leading to inefficient series from Randolph, Gasol, and Conley. The Silver and Black handed the Grizzlies a harsh reality check, denying them entry to the NBA’s biggest stage via a four-game sweep.
Would the Grizzlies have defeated the Heat in 2013 with Gay?
Hypothetical situations always spawn fun discussions, and kudos to Gay for playing devil’s advocate. Rudy’s presence in the first contest between Memphis and Miami on November 11, 2012, proved he could be a factor in a possible series. He stuffed the stat sheet in that outing, dropping 21 points while adding eight rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks.
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However, a seven-game battle against a prime LeBron James with Wade behind him was a completely different challenge that no regular-season matchup can replicate. The Heat’s experience under the brightest lights also gave them a level of poise Memphis had yet to develop.
On top of that, James would have had extra fuel to torch the Grizzlies. Gasol edged him out for Defensive Player of the Year in 2013, a result many around the league felt was debatable, even questionable. Facing Memphis in the finals could have given LBJ the perfect stage to showcase who the real two-way force of that season was.
Although the Grizzlies had their merits, especially on defense, it’s hard to picture the Heat’s back-to-back title run getting derailed by a squad still trying to figure out how to break through. That’s just not how it works.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 25, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.