Dwyane Wade relaxes with ice packs strapped to his body after practice Monday at the Thomas & Mack Center. Photos by Jane Kalinowsky. Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski meets with reporters. Team USA will play the Puerto Rican squad today in a scrimmage billed as ''Hoops for Troops,'' with 10,000 tickets available for Nellis Air Force personnel and their families.

Nobody on the USA Basketball men's senior national team played more than Dwyane Wade did this past NBA season.

Eight exhibition games. Seventy-five regular-season contests. Twenty-three playoff games, including the six-game NBA Finals against Dallas. And that doesn't include the countless practices.

That's a lot of basketball.

Wade should be tired after leading the Miami Heat to the franchise's first NBA championship. But the 6-foot-4-inch guard said he doesn't have time for fatigue. There's an important task at hand and he wants a gold medal to accompany the ring he earned in June.

Besides, he gave his word that he would represent his country and to him, his word is, well, gold.

"I'm not going to lie. I had second thoughts (about playing)," Wade said Monday while icing down his knees and his right wrist. "But I didn't want to let these guys down. I said I would play and it's great being out here. I'll have time to rest later."

The three-year veteran who teammate Shaquille O'Neal nicknamed "Flash" has been rounding back into form for Team USA, which concludes Phase 2 of its Las Vegas training camp Thursday when it faces Puerto Rico in an exhibition game at the Thomas & Mack Center.

He's hitting shots, running the floor, coming up with steals and making plays, just the way he did in earning his ring with the Heat.

"I'm out here to help the team," Wade said, noting he doesn't need to carry a major workload in order to contribute. "I don't have to play heavy minutes here. Just make plays, be a distraction on defense and do whatever they need me to do.

"If I was asked to carry the same role I did in Miami, I don't think I could do it. But it's a shorter game and I'm not going to have to do as much, so I'll be fine."

USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said Wade's commitment to the team is indicative of how much he cares about representing his country.

"He's in another class in many ways," Colangelo said. "But he's a special kid for a lot of reasons. No. 1, he's here. He played a lot of basketball and he's really banged up. If he wanted to beg out, you would understand.

"No. 2, he's got a bad wrist. But he doesn't take any drills off. He wants to be part of this. He's got great character."

Wade, who recently signed a three-year contract extension to remain with the Heat, also has additional motivation for playing.

He was a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic team that came home with a bronze medal. He wants this experience to be better than the one he had in Athens, Greece.

"I don't know where it is," he said when asked if he knew where he kept the bronze medal. "It's around somewhere. But that's not what we went there for. I have another chance to make things right."

Wade and USA Basketball teammate Bruce Bowen are the only two players on the USA roster with NBA championship rings. Wade said a gold medal in Japan could be a prelude to winning gold at the 2008 Olympics in China.

"It's real important," he said of the team's mission this month. "It would mean a lot. It would help restore a lot of our credibility."

Wade was named Finals Most Valuable Player, more proof that he has arrived as a superstar as well as a leader in the locker room.

With an NBA title ring comes special status, especially given his MVP performance in the Finals.

"Once you win a championship, you get respect, Wade said.

* NOTES -- The Americans and Puerto Ricans will scrimmage at 5 p.m. today at the Thomas & Mack Center. The event is closed to the public. However, USA Basketball, along with State Farm Insurance, is providing 10,000 tickets to Nellis Air Force Base personnel and their families to attend the scrimmage as part of the "Hoops for Troops" program. ... Kobe Bryant, who has not been at training camp because he is recuperating from knee surgery, is expected to attend practice today and stay for the afternoon scrimmage. ... According to Las Vegas Events, approximately 3,000 tickets are left, all in the balcony, for Thursday's exhibition game. The lower level has been sold out for a couple of weeks. Remaining tickets are $12 and $18. ... Thursday's exhibition game will be televised live nationally at 8 p.m. on ESPN2 (Cable 31). ... Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., addressed the team prior to practice Monday.