Dwyane Wade was heated after the Bulls’ late-game collapse in their 119-114 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday at the United Center, and he was in a finger-pointing mood.

The Bulls led by were up 110-100 after Wade’s jumper with 3:02 remaining in the game, but the Hawks went on a 19-2 run to take over the game.

Everything went wrong for the Bulls down the stretch, but Wade, who scored 33 points, called out the Bulls’ stalled offense as the biggest culprit for defeat. Taj Gibson, Paul Zipser, and Nikola Mirotic all missed big 3-pointers with under five minutes to go, and Wade did not approve of their shot selection.

Here’s the three controversial end-of-game 3-pointers that the Bulls missed. Looked like decent shots to me. pic.twitter.com/lNIjuZXnzE — Stephen Noh (@hungarianjordan) January 26, 2017



“If you’re going to shoot, you better have made that shot a lot and you better have put the work in,” Wade told reporters after the game. “And I don’t see that enough.”

Jimmy Butler said, “I understand if you’ve got an open shot take it. But at a point in the game like that, you gotta get the ball to your best players.”

Butler, who led the Bulls with 40 points, at least has license to talk. He’s been the Bulls’ best player in the clutch and has shot a respectable 42 percent in those situations.

It is more than a little bit hypocritical though for Wade to criticize his teammates for poor shot selection late in games.

Wade has connected on just 31.7 percent of his shots in the clutch as defined by NBA Stats. He isn’t the same player he was in his prime, and he’s nowhere close to efficient as a late-game option any more. The shots that the Bulls missed were good, clean looks, and they were much better than what Wade has generally produced at the end of games.

Wade continued to throw his teammates under the bus in his post-game comments, calling for his teammates to give better effort on the floor.

“Everyone don’t care enough,” Wade said. “You got to care enough, man. It’s got to mean that much to you to want to win.”

I’ve watched every Bulls game this year, and I can definitively state that the players that have given the least effort defensively have been Rajon Rondo and Wade. Check out Wade’s effort from the Bulls’ Tuesday game against the Orlando Magic, as the announcers openly wondered why he wasn’t trying on defense.

Wade waits for the other team to score rather than getting back on defense. pic.twitter.com/YKaxireeJY — Stephen Noh (@hungarianjordan) January 25, 2017

Those types of plays have become the new normal for Wade. He’s still a valuable player, but his defense is nowhere close to what it once was. Wade’s whining at officials has been well-documented by national writers for years. He won’t get back on transition defense, choosing to concede points in favor of complaining about calls. Even when he has nothing to argue about, his effort is abysmal on defense.

Wade was having a good scoring game and rightfully bemoaned the Bulls’ offensive production in the fourth quarter, but their defense was the real problem. The Bulls’ 31 points in the fourth was plenty, but they gave up 41 points to the Hawks, which marked a season-high.

Furthermore, the veterans were the ones to blame. Wade, Butler and Robin Lopez were all a team-worst minus-9 in the fourth quarter, while the young players who played in the start of the period were between a minus-1 and a minus-4.

The Hawks made four-of-five 3-pointers in the last five minutes of the game to come back from a double-digit deficit. Wade and Butler were responsible for three of those 3-pointers. While Butler got screened on the 3-pointer he gave up, Wade’s were due to sheer laziness.

On one late basket, Wade jogged leisurely back on defense, allowing Kent Bazemore to sprint in front of him. Butler was forced to help over, and the Hawks got an open corner 3-pointer as a result.

@andykarns here’s the video of wade jogging back. There’s only a few minutes left, he’s gotta sprint back on defense. pic.twitter.com/j9pcDiATpG — Stephen Noh (@hungarianjordan) January 26, 2017



On another, Wade inexplicably left Dennis Schroder one pass away to gamble for a steal. Bazemore made a very easy pass to get Schroder the 3-pointer.



Mistakes happen on defensive possessions all the time, but breakdowns due to effort are inexcusable. What’s even worse is that Wade called out young teammates that weren’t nearly as responsible as he was for the abhorrent defense.

“I’m not at home with people but I don’t know if I see enough guys who really, really want it,” Wade said.

If he hadn’t dug a deep enough grave for his teammates, he said, “I’m 35 years old, man. I’ve got three championships. It shouldn’t hurt me more than it hurts these young guys. They have to want it.”

Wade’s comments reek of hypocrisy. He’s the team’s highest-paid player, earning over $23 million this season. Most of his teammates haven’t even sniffed that for their entire career, and they are starving for the type of opportunity that Wade gets every single game. Yet Wade is the one that has been walking back on defense while they sit quietly on the bench.

Wade’s teammate Jerian Grant, who very likely wasn’t the target of Wade’s choicest comments, did not seem to be happy with Wade after the game.

I’ve played this game since I was 4yrs old. Basketball is in my blood and means way more to me than just a paycheck. — Jerian Grant (@JerianGrant) January 26, 2017

Tough loss, that hurt for sure. But I play hard TO WIN every second I’m out there, and grind everyday for everything I have. — Jerian Grant (@JerianGrant) January 26, 2017

Wade was brought to Chicago in part to be a leader. Natural post-game emotions aside, I don’t see what he’s accomplishing here. That is not the way to lead, and he needs to be more supportive of his less-talented teammates. Wade played well overall, but the loss was on every single player. That includes him.