J-Speaks: The Final Season For Heat's Greatest Player

After the Southeast Division champion Miami Heat fell at the Philadelphia 76ers 104-91 to that First-Round playoff series in five games, there question arose would this be the last time future Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade would take the court. He mulled for much of this summer about returning for possible one more season or retire. He looked into a camera standing alone in the middle of a pitch-black room and expressed his decision, weeping at times as he tried to say his answer. 

On Sunday night in a video taped earlier in the day that can be seen on YouTube, Wade announced that he will be returning to the Miami Heat for his as 16^th and final season in the National Basketball Association (NBA). 

The 12-time All-Star, who referred to this upcoming season as “Sweet 16” in his video spent the entirety of this off-season weighing his options and calling it a career—even just a few days back was in his mind close to a reality. 

His status of returning was such a question mark that with the start of training camp one week out the Heat kept the 20^th and final training camp slot and there was no question who that spot was for. 

While the spot was now filled by the most accomplished and the most important player in Miami Heat history, there was no guarantee that the No. 5 overall pick in the 2003 draft and his 22.5 career scoring average would come back.  

“I always did things my way,” the 36-year-old Wade, who is expected to sign a one-year, $2.4 million deal later on this week said in the 10-minute video on Sunday. “Whether they’ve been good or whether they’ve been bad, I got here because I’ve done things the way that I feel is right for me and my family. And what I feel is right—I feel it’s right to ask you guys to join me for one last dance, for one last season.” 

“This is it. I’ve given this game everything that I have, and I’m happy about that, and I’m going to give it for one last season, everything else I have left.” 

Wade, who is married to actress, and entrepreneur Gabrielle Union and has three children is the Heat’s all-time leader in points (20,473); games played (876); assists (5,009) and steals (1,433). 

The reasoning behind Wade taking long to make his decision is because he was undecided on if he was going to return, according to an ESPN.com story. That he had both family and personal business that required his attention and that it took time for him and the organization that he spent 13 of his first 15 seasons with on a deal that made sense for both sides. 

A person very familiar with Wade’s thinking process told “The Associated Press” that he was giving retirement strong consideration right up until last week when Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and others made a late push to help him make a decision. 

Those conservations must have work because the three-time champion and 8-time All-NBA selection decided to return for one more season. 

“These things to you guys may seem small,” Wade said. “But to me, they’re real. I feel like my family have put me first for so many years, for good reasons. But there comes a point in time when we’ve all got to think about someone else, especially the ones around you that have supported you, supported your dreams, supported your journey like my family have.” 

Wade’s return for the 2018-19 season means the Heat will have basically the same roster, that is young and up-and-coming it feels like it did a season ago. 

They went 44-38 capturing the No. 6 Seed in the East falling as mentioned to the Sixers in the opening-round in five games. 

This time around though, they will have Wade in the fold right from the outset, which a couple of years back did not seem possible. 

He spent the 2016-17 on his home grounds of the “Windy City” playing for the team he routed for in his youth the Chicago Bulls. He began last season playing for the now four-time defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers and his long-time buddy and 2003 draft classman LeBron James, the four-time Kia MVP. 

Wade appeared in 26 games for Cavs, mostly in a reserve role before returning to South Florida in a trade in February. In his return stint, Wade played in 26 games, including the postseason, enamoring the Heat while coming off the bench providing a 12.9 scoring average. 

He made a serious impact for the Heat on the hardwood as well as off the court getting involved in responding to the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School were 17 people were killed. 

One of those lives that was taken away far too soon was a young man named Joaquin Oliver, a huge Heat fan. At his memorial service, Oliver’s parents buried their son in a Wade No. 3 jersey. 

Wade was so touched by the sentiment that he spent the latter portion of the 2017-18 season dealing both with that passing as well as that of his longtime agent Henry Thomas. 

“When I lost Hank, I lost a part of me,” Wade said while wiping away tears. 

When the Heat selected Wade No. 5 overall as mentioned earlier in 2003 after James, Darko Milicic, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh went ahead of him at picks 1,2,3 and 4 respectably, no one knew how good he was going to be at the professional. 

He showed how special in his first playoff game hitting the game-winner in Game 1 of the Heat’s Quarterfinals series versus the then New Orleans Hornets’ lead guard Baron Davis and that set into motion the birth of the next great NBA star. 

Two seasons later Hall of Famer and current NBA on TNT studio analyst Shaquille O’Neal was dealt to the Heat and dubbed Wade “flash.”

After falling in the 2005 Eastern Conference Finals to the Detroit Pistons in seven games, they made it to the 2006 NBA Finals, where they fell behind 0-2 to the representative of the Western Conference the Dallas Mavericks. 

They were behind by 13 points with 6:30 left at home in Game 3, when “Flash” scored 12 points the final 5:30 to lead the Heat to a 98-96 win to cut the series lead to 2-1 as he finished with 42 points. 

The Heat would win the final three games of that series and capture their first of three Larry O’Brien trophies in six games, including the clincher on the Mavericks’ home floor. 

Wade won Finals MVP averaging 34.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.7 steals and one block per game. 

“Incredible, just the heart that he has…He just rises to the occasion,” Heat president and then head coach Pat Riley said of Wade’s performance in those Finals. 

Throughout his career there were two things that could not be questioned about Wade. His heart and his will to win games. He put that on full display in the summer of 2010 helping to orchestrate the biggest free agent coo in NBA history when Bosh and James joined Wade in South Florida, and the so-called Heatles were born. 

Today no team with three of the greatest players in the hardwood was under the kind of microscope or experienced the kind of dislike, borderline hatred for a four-year period the Heat did from 2010-14. Every time the took the court, except for at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, the Heatles were given the side eye in all the other 29 cities they visited. 

ESPN to illustrate how big of a sports storyline this was dedicated a website to cover them. The three people that covered the Heat and their polarizing trio was insiders Kevin Arnovitz, Brian Windhorst and Tom Haberstroh. 

After losing to the Mavericks in the 2011 Finals, the world was laughing and figuratively spitting in their faces and they could do nothing about it. 

It was in that summer that Wade showed the world his heart and his willingness to win where on vacation in the Bahamas with James, the two superstars had a heart-to-heart conversation. Wade turned over the heavy lifting at the offensive end as well as the leadership of the franchise to LBJ. 

“It was probably one of the hardest things I had to do,” Wade said to ESPN’s Israel Gutierrez after Heat lost in the 2011 Finals in six games. “I want more success from winning. I don’t want another scoring title. I’m just trying to win.” 

“I felt that I had to come from nobody but me, to say, ‘Go ahead man. You’re the best player in the world. We’ll follow your lead.” 

The Heatles led by James, Wade and Bosh made it to The Finals all four years together, winning back-to-back titles in 2012 over the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games in 2012 and over the mighty San Antonio Spurs in seven games one year later. 

In the 2012-13 season, the Heat won an incredible 27 straight games, setting the 2^nd best mark in NBA history to the 33 straight by the 1971-72 World Champion Los Angeles Lakers, on route to a franchise record 66 wins. 

Wade sacrificed his city, his franchise, his minutes, his body, and his wallet for the Heat to be successful. ESPN’s Jorge Sedano said on Monday’s edition of “NBA: The Jump” that he remembers on five occasions that he was asked by the Heat front office to take discount to allow the franchise to put the best team around him. 

It got to a point though two summers ago where the likes of Hassan Whiteside, James Johnson, Tyler Johnson, and Dion Waiters got big time contracts and Wade did not. That caused a rift with him and Riley, which led him to sign with the Bulls and then the Heat for those two prior mentioned seasons. 

Things were squared between when Wade was dealt back to the Heat as mentioned a season ago at the Feb. 8 trade deadline.

He showed last season that he still has some gas left in the tank as he turned back the clock hitting a couple of game winners against the Sixers in the regular season and postseason. 

The plan for Wade going into this season is for him to remain a reserve like a year ago. While it is unlikely he will begin games this season, it would be a sure bet that he will be in there at the finish, especially if the game is close. Spoelstra utilize Wade a lot as the closer when he returned last season. 

Being able to find minutes at times will be a tough task because unlike when Kobe Bryant’s farewell tour two seasons back, the Lakers were in rebuilding mode. For the Heat, they are a team expected to make the playoffs. 

On top of that, there is a lot of depth on the roster with notable guards in All-Star Goran Dragic, Johnson, Waiters, Josh Richardson, sharp shooter Wayne Ellington and Rodney McGruder, who account for $68.5 million of the Heat’s 2018-19 salary.   

In the upcoming 2018-19 season, we will get to see the NBA story of Dwyane Tyrone Wade, Jr. conclude the right way. Being able to appreciate his career with the team that he will have spent 14 of his 16 NBA seasons with. The team that gave him a chance at greatness and he rewarded Heat nation as well as basketball fans by being a great individual player and a team player that guided the Heat to their three championships; earned a lot of individual honors along the way and showed that he was willing to share in the glory with two guys that were in the same draft class with him and will all be enshrined in Springfield, MA. 

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 9/14/18 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Amin Elhassan, and Paul Pierce; 9/17/18 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Jorge Sedano, Brian Windhorst and Jackie MacMullan; The Sporting News’ 2006-07 Official NBA Guide, 2005-06 Review, Playoffs section, Page 105; 9/16/18 www.espn.com article via “The Associated Press,” “Dwyane Wade Will Return to Heat for ‘One Last’ NBA season;” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Heat; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971-72_Los_Angeles_Lakers_season; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwyane_Wade.