Dwyane Wade: a Homecoming for the ages
Flash, father prime, or d-wade, whatever you want to call him, Dwyane Wade has had a historic career in the NBA. This Thursday Wade was traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat, the team he started his career with. Wade did more than just start his career in Miami, he also helped bring the city three NBA championships. Wade is an iconic figure in the city’s history and it is only fitting that he comes back home and plans to finish out his career where he started.
Dwyane Wade went to Marquette University and was drafted by the Miami Heat in 2003 and proceeded to play there for 13 years. In just 3 years Wade lead to the Heat to their first finals appearance and with a little help from Shaquille O’Neal, he brought the city their first championship in 2006 over Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks. Wade averaged 34.7 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 3.8 apg, 2.7 spg, and 1 bpg, and this has been considered one of the greatest individual performances in NBA history. This was only the beginning of the budding Heat franchise and their future superstar.
After the championship in 2006 the heat struggled to contend in the playoffs until the summer of 2010 when they signed NBA all-stars Chris Bosh and LeBron James, which made the league’s first “Superteam.” This paved the way for the current-day “superteams” which are teams with at least 3 all-star caliber players. In 2011 the Miami Heat, with their new trio, blazed their path to the finals and met Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks once again. Wade averaged 26.5 ppg, 7 rpg, 5.2 apg, 1.5 spg, and 1.5 bpg, but even that was not enough considering Wade’s counterpart LeBron James averaged less than 18 ppg and the Miami Heat fell to the Mavericks 4-2.
In 2012 had made it their mission to get back to the finals and win this time. The Heat added Ray Allen (NBA all-time leader in made 3pointers) to their roster, and LeBron had earned his 3rd MVP award in 2012. The heat would make it back to the finals and face-off against Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Kevin Durant was backed up by Russell Westbrook (NBA MVP 2017) and James Harden (NBA MVP runner-up 2017). This was a clash of the big 3s. Wade averaged nearly 23 ppg, 6 rbg, and 5 apg, while LeBron averaged almost 29 ppg, 10 rpg, and 7 apg, both of these performances were key in winning the 2012 NBA championship beating the thunder 4-2. This brought Miami the city’s 2nd championship and only fueled the Heat to make another run at the title.
In 2013 Wade and LeBron had one goal coming into the season; get back to the finals. The Heat blazed through the regular season winning 66 games and setting a franchise record for wins; the Heat also won 27 consecutive games, which is the second longest win-streak in NBA history. LeBron took home the MVP trophy once again this year and Miami was on top of the league. The Heat were faced with tough challenges along the way when they met the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals and were pushed to their limits in a 7 game series. The Heat beat the Pacers 4-3 and then set out to face the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA finals. This was the biggest challenge for Wade and the heat, and the drama ensued. With 30 seconds left to go and the Heat down 5 in the game and down 3-2 in the series things started to look bleak. With 20 seconds left on the clock LeBron James nailed a 3pointer to shrink the lead to 2; Kawhi Leonard of the spurs then hit a free throw with 19 seconds to push their lead up to 3. The Heat came down the court on the following possession and lebron james shot another 3, but this time he missed. The rebound was grabbed by Chris Bosh and passed out to Ray Allen in the corner. Ray Allen then proceeded to make one of the biggest shots in NBA finals history with 5 seconds left the game was tied. The heat would win in overtime and force game 7, where the Heat won and brought Miami and Wade their 3rd championship.
All of this would not have been possible without Dwyane Wade, the franchise’s leader points, free throws, assists, steals, and win shares. The heat were a largely irrelevant franchise until they drafted Wade in 2003, he changed the entire trajectory of the Miami heat’s organization. All of these reasons come together as to why Wade’s homecoming is such a big deal for not only him, but for the team and the NBA. Dwyane Wade says he is happy to be back home and everyone knows there is nowhere else he would rather be playing for the remainder of his career.
