In an interview with MMC, Wade had this to say about the 29-year-old Ljubljana native: “He’s an excellent player. He is our playmaker and thus our leader. His job is to guide us. He has to be aggressive on the court – both on the offense and the defense – and we need him to score points. He also has to run the offense and pass the ball well. I think he’s already become accustomed to our way of playing. It’s a bit different from the way he used to play in Phoenix and his previous clubs. We like the way he plays and we’re glad he’s so competitive. We’re glad that he is now focusing more on defense, which is something he didn't have to do before. He’s become a really excellent player now.”

The 33-year old Wade is happy that Beno Udrih has also joined the team. “They speak in their language, but we don’t understand it, so that’s something we don’t like (laughs) … It’s good that Beno joined us. When he gets his opportunity, he will show that he’s an extremely intelligent player. He has a very high basketball IQ. He understands the game and he can score many points. He’s a bit like Goran: both are good playmakers, but they’re also good scorers.”

Wade has won three championship rings in his career, but he said – in a jocular manner – that he has enough room for more rings: “When you win a championship, you get even hungrier and you want more: more new rings. You don’t know whether you will become a champion until you really win the ring.”

Tilen Jamnik reporting from Miami; translated by D. V.