Howard's departure sheds new light on Dwayne Wade

Today I read an article on espn.com that reports: The Lakers lost Dwight Howard to free agency because they were non committal when it came to Kobe passing the torch.

Howard's camp was reportedly upset that Kobe is looking to play beyond the 2013-14 season, the final year of his contract. Bryant has already voiced his desire to win two more championships, and the Lakers will leave the torch in his hands to do so. Howard's camp is even rumored to have asked the Lakers if they would release Kobe through the amnesty clause.

Stop playin.

With everything the Black Mamba has accomplished in the city of Los Angeles, he deserves the right to leave on his own terms...whenever that may be....even if he was rehabbing from a broken neck.

But I digress.

Who's at fault is irrelevant. What I really came out of this article with was a new found  respect for Dwayne Wade.

Wade was already the man in Miami. A face of a franchise. A champion. Dwayne Wade was a beloved player (outside the city of Dallas) with a pristine reputation.

Then came LeBron's decision.

And from that moment on it became LeBron's team, for better, and in the case of the 2011 Finals...for worse. Wade went from being a beloved champion to a villian overnight. The Heat were booed without mercy in every arena outside of Miami. Everyone was now rooting against him.

If we all knew that LeBron choked in his first Finals appearance with the Heat, then you know Dwayne Wade did too. He never threw LeBron under the bus (at least not publicly), and even accompanied LeBron to the often difficult post game news conferences.

Wade took less money, and was handed the roll of Robin, all before he signed off on the Big 3 experiment. Make no mistake about it, this was Wade's call. He swallowed his pride, and did what was best for the team, even when he knew someone else would get the credit.

And the result?

Back to back NBA titles, and three overall. His place in history is now set, even if he never returns to the hardwood. Do you want to be right? Or do you want to be happy?

Wade looked pretty happy on that podium.       follow @plcolter