Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade continues to show out after return

Dwyane Wade has been on a roll since his return to the Miami Heat.

Hot take alert: Dwyane Wade should never retire.

Having  joined the Chicago Bulls in July 2017, many questioned just how much the superstar really had left in his tank. A concern that didn’t let up, even as he averaged 18.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 29.9 minutes, over 60 games in the Windy City.

It wasn’t so much about his stats, as it was relying on the eye-test. During his hometown stint, he looked fatigued and out of shape, a shadow of his old self, especially alongside Jimmy Butler and Rajon Rondo.

And things only got worse once he joined LeBron James in Cleveland. So much so, that for the first time in his career, he took a backseat role, agreeing to come off the bench. He started in just three games with the Cavaliers, and averaged 11.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 23.2 minutes of play.

He put on weight, leaving him visibly winded on the court, and seemed entirely depleted of energy.

So, it wasn’t hard to understand why some Miami Heat fans were skeptical as to what the guard’s role would be, upon his February return.

But here we are, 10 games later, and it seems pretty clear: fourth quarter closer.

Yes, at the age of 36, Wade is being relied upon to seal the deal for the Heat. Something he hasn’t been tasked with since he parted ways with the organization last summer. Yet, head coach Erik Spoelstra isn’t worried about him being up to the challenge.

"“I’ll say this always, I’ll go to my grave — and I will go to my grave — with Dwyane Wade shooting with the game on the line.”"

Cheers to that.

Since arriving back in South Florida, the veteran has averaged 14.0 points on 44 percent shooting in 23.4 minutes. He has played in six so-called clutch games, scoring 31 points in 25 clutch minutes, shooting 10-for-20 from the field and a perfect 11-for-11 at the line. And had a 27-point  in 25 minutes game in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers, 15 of which came in the fourth quarter.

Oh, and he hit the game-winner.

"“There’s certain moments that’s asked for me to be a leading man and certain moments where it’s not,” said Wade. I’m not always going to be great in them. But hopefully more times than not, my teammates feel confident that we’re going to get something good out of it.”"

Wade doesn’t have anything to worry about there.

Next: Miami Heat: Team could lose a key cog to their core

Despite his age and not being back in world-class shape yet, both the Miami Heat and Heat Nation should get used to counting even more on the three-time champion, moving forward.