If on Tuesday night Shaquille O’Neal decides to address former teammate Dwyane Wade by his nickname, the one O’Neal gave him at the start of their now frosty relationship six years ago, Wade might ignore him.
And anyone else who calls Wade “Flash” for that matter.
On his Twitter feed – where else? – Sunday night, Wade let it be known he doesn’t want to be referred to as Flash any longer. O’Neal, who famously has taken on a Superman persona over the decades, gave Wade the moniker because of his strength and quickness reminded O’Neal of the comic book hero of the same name.
But Wade, it seems, does not want to be such a character any longer.
“The Artist formally known as 'FLASH' no longer exists. This is a NEW CHAPTER in my life. A NEW ERA has begun…,” Wade wrote on his Twitter account.
A few minutes later he followed up with: “The content of my character has changed. I'm a [different] kind of man, father, an athlete. Evolution is necessary 4 growth.. change is inevitable.”
This has been a challenging period for Wade, who missed most of training camp with a hamstring injury. He also was away for a week attending the custody trial for his two sons in Chicago.
When asked about the Tweets on Monday, Wade said ditching the name is part of his maturation.
"That was when I was 22 years old; it's not me no more,” Wade said. “I'm in a different space in my life right now. I want people to respect me for who I am, not for a character."