Dwyane Wade met Tim Tebow for the first time at the Yankees-Angels game Sunday where they were spotted sitting together drawing boos from some fans at Stadium.
Wade is used to getting booed in New York, but predicted anyone who was booing Tebow on Sunday will be cheering for him once the NFL season starts. If first impression means anything, Wade is already a fan of the new Jets quarterback.
“He’s a winner,” Wade said Monday night after sitting out the Heat’s 101-98 victory over the Nets at Prudential Center. “You can sense it when you speak to him and you’re around him. The confidence that he portrays as a person probably wears off on the guys in the locker room. That’s why they were successful in Denver and that’s why he’ll be successful in his role with the Jets.”
Wade and Tebow were together at the baseball game because they have common agents. Though they both sported Yankees cap, Wade said he’s not a Yankees fan per se.
“I’m a fan of certain players, (Derek) Jeter, A-Rod,” Wade said. “The Yankees have a lot of great players on their team and to be able to handle all the things they’re able to handle and the scrutiny they go through, I look at that from afar and I’m a fan of that.”
He knows Tebow will be under scrutiny in New York. “I think he can handle it,” Wade said. “He’s good.”
Wade also brushed aside comments made on ESPN by Hall of Famer Magic Johnson suggesting the Heat were too friendly with each other to win an NBA Championship. Johnson said the Heat lacked a definitive leader, willing to call out other players for their shortcomings.
“That’s his opinion,” Wade said. “We don’t concern ourselves with what someone on the outside says. We have a good relationship as teammates which you’re supposed to have. We have guys that will get on each other as well. No one is in our locker room everyday but us. So when you hear different things you laugh at them no matter who says them.”