Fifteen minutes before the rest of his Cleveland Cavaliers teammates lumbered into Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia for morning shootaround, wiping sleep from their eyes and wearing slippers, Dwyane Wade was on the floor, building up a lather and running individual shooting drills with assistant coach Phil Handy. This is a new routine for Wade, a future Hall of Famer learning to adjust to a veteran team that rarely practices and with a role — and position as backup point guard — unfamiliar to anything he might have encountered in his previous 14 years in the league.

Wade wants this reunion with his good friend LeBron James to work, having spent the years following their split in Miami as an observer, not participant, for meaningful basketball games. The Cavaliers have thrown together a confusing gumbo as they carry on with life and attempt to make a fourth straight — but first post-Kyrie Irving — run to the NBA Finals. And Wade has taken upon a challenge to re-define himself in a way that few with his resumé would willingly accept — even if that means showing up on the first shootaround bus with seldom-used players like John Holland and Cedi Osman, and getting in extra work as if he’s trying to establish himself in the league all over again.

“The last time I came off the bench, I think I was in sixth grade, playing on an eighth-grade team,” Wade told Yahoo Sports with a laugh. “I’m just trying to stay as sharp as possible. I’m used to starting. I’m used to getting as much rest as possible. Now, it’s a little different. Got to change it up a little bit. I’m not really coming in worrying about my statistics or numbers. Fifteen years in the league, I don’t care about that no more. I’ve done all that. For me, it’s about being a part of something special.”

Dwyane Wade and LeBron James were eager to play together again. (Getty) More

If the past seven years have proven anything, it’s that playing with James can be equal parts stressful and rewarding. The scrutiny over every failure, cryptic subtweet or perceived chemistry problem is endless and borderline maddening if you let it marinate. But the exposure and opportunity to play for something special often makes the experience worthwhile. This season is no different, and perhaps more unnerving, as the Cavaliers try to piece together a team of guys trying to stay fresh after three straight deep postseason runs, with newcomers eager to win on the grandest scale with the greatest player of this generation approaching another highly anticipated free agency.

“I think this team, especially guys that [have] been here and guys that just got here are starting to understand that whenever LeBron is a part of the team, [there’s] going to be something said,” Wade told Yahoo Sports. “He’s been the face of the NBA for a while now, so I think everybody understands that. That makes it exciting. That makes it fun to be on this team. You go on the road, it’s a show. You’re part of the show, win, lose or draw. All eyes are always on you. … It’s not like being on a team where no one really cares, or no one is watching. It’s a different mentality.”

The season hasn’t even reached December, but the Cavaliers have already had to respond to concerns over their possible vulnerabilities in a more competitive than usual Eastern Conference. They are getting older. They played their first dozen or so games as if they were allergic to playing defense. Derrick Rose, an odd-looking fit from the start, has already gotten hurt and left the team to contemplate whether he wants to retire. Tristan Thompson went down with a calf injury. Wade moved to the bench to run the second unit after coach Tyronn Lue recognized that surrounding James with non-shooters was the equivalent of wearing noise-canceling headphones at the symphony. And the panic surrounding the team was magnified by Irving flourishing as a leading man in Boston, Isaiah Thomas still slowly recovering from a bum hip, and the coveted Brooklyn pick it received in that trade looking less like it will be high in the lottery.

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