Dwyane Wade to donate his Knicks game salary to Sandy charity

Dwyane Wade is not happy. New York City is still a mess in 100 different ways, but after canceling the Brooklyn Nets’ home opener against the Knicks Thursday night, the NBA announced this week that the Knicks-Heat game on Friday will play on as scheduled.

Wade doesn’t think they should be playing. As he told Jeff Zillgitt and USA Today,“ just knowing a lot of people here and knowing what they’ve been going through with no power, no water, no food … to me, it just seems like there’s bigger things to be concerned about than a basketball game. I just felt that they canceled the game in Brooklyn, then this one would be canceled as well.”

Wade taking up the cause of New Yorkers may seem like it’s coming out of nowhere, but he makes a fair point--the inconsistency from the NBA and Mayor Bloomberg is slightly baffling.

It’s not like New York City is that much further along in the recovery 24 hours after the canceled Nets game, and it might be pretty frustrating for some New Yorks to see life carry on like normal in one area of the city while other parts continue to live in the darkness of Sandy’s aftermath. Of course, the other side of the argument would say a Knicks game isn’t going to hinder the recovery, and it could be a welcome distraction for New Yorkers everywhere. But you know what’s cool?

Instead of making this into a stupid argument that only compounds the problem, Wade told Zillgitt he plans to donate his entire $210,000 salary from tonight’s Knicks game to Sandy-related charity. According to Wade, he and his teammates are still looking for the right charity organization, but his salary tonight will go to an organization to help relief efforts. A pretty awesome way to handle it, no?

Whether New Yorkers think the Knicks should be playing or not, D-Wade just took things in a much more productive direction. If the teams have to play, at least they can try to turn the night into a glorified fundraiser. So good for Wade, and if he and any other players really go through with it, here’s to hoping the other, much wealthier parties involved--like ESPN, the NBA, and MSG--follow suit and match every donation.

Suddenly, the Knicks game doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.