Miami Heat: Will Dwyane Wade surpass Michael Jordan?

The Miami Heat guard needs 45 rejections to top Michael Jordan‘s mark.

The legacy of Michael Jordan is a double-edged sword.

He inspired generations of basketball players, challenging them to reach for greatness beyond the conventional idea of success.

Jordan-ism expects its followers to follow its monastic doctrines without hesitation.

“Be Legendary,” Jordan’s mantra adopted in 2008, takes the wisdom of Nike’s “Just Do It” and multiplies it 100-fold, calling on all those who follow the six-time Chicago Bulls champion to become someone for the history books.

But contrasting that call to greatness is the subtle realization that few will ever lay claim to a single achievement that can rival Jordan’s laundry list of awards.

Since his retirement only a handful of players even have the chance to sniff at such greatness, let alone mirror it in their own lives.

The Miami Heat have been fortunate enough to have such a player in its ranks.

Dwyane Wade, who will play his 16th and final NBA season this year, has a shot at eclipsing one of Jordan’s hallmarks; 46 blocked shots buffer Wade from surpassing Jordan’s career 893 career rejections.

Accomplishing this feat would mark the second time Wade overstepped Jordan’s shadow, the first coming in 2012 when he departed from Jordan Brand in favor of starting his apparel line with the Chinese sports company, Li-Ning.

Wade leaving his Nike-backed partnership was an impassioned statement that, while leaving his idol’s namesake, paved roads to become his own icon.

"“Jordan set the blueprint for all of us,” Wade said in 2017. “There’s no reason to try to change it. After all, part of Jordan’s journey was to create Jordan Brand with Nike. If a player is going to follow Jordan’s example, the way to do it is create their own brand. “You could tweak it, but you should follow.”"

Since 2012, a host of other NBA players have embraced alternate brand identities, including Klay Thompson, CJ McCollum and Lou Williams, all of whom rock Chinese sponsored kicks.

However, the challenge still lingers (if Wade accepts) for him to claim the 113^th spot on the NBA’s all-time block list, and finally stand a rung above Jordan in an all-time comparison.

To this point, Wade’s shot-denying acumen has already proved historic. At 847 blocks, he’s generally considered the greatest shot-blocking guard to grace the hardwood.

But lists are rarely categorized by positions and idyllic conventions. If Wade wants to add another notch to his already battle-worn belt, chasing Jordan’s record is the way to do it.

In Miami’s preseason opener on Sunday, Wade proved that passing Jordan’s mark is well within reach. Eight minutes had expired in the first quarter, when Wade cheekily coils the ball out of Bryn Forbes’ hands at the elbow, earning his first block of the 2018-19 season.

Of course, preseason statistics aren’t included in basketball ledgers.

If they were, scoring lists would be dominated by career-minded G-Leaguers who are looking to impress and win a full-time contract. And as an added caveat, amassing stats in preseason is noticeably easier for veteran players who often use lesser-known opponents as fodder for padding their box score lines.

(Seriously, go look at the Per 36-minute stats for this preseason and compare them to any regular season in NBA history. Who are some of those guys?)

If Wade truly does decide to pursue Jordan’s block record this season, Miami is the place to do it.

The Heat already field an active defensive philosophy that embraces poking and prodding the ball away from opponents.

Plenty of Wade’s blocks come in the same fashion as Sunday’s: stealthily catching the backside of a shot attempt from a shooter who thought he was in the clear.

For Wade to finally put Jordan in his rear view mirror, he’d need to effectively average a block every other game, assuming he plays a full 82 game slate.

He’s previously stated that this final tour won’t be a bench-dwelling one, and peppering in multi-block games as he did against the Cleveland Cavaliers last March, will put the accomplishment well within reach.

Jordan’s legacy already sits over Wade’s on a nightly basis, as his No. 23 Jersey hangs from the AmericanAirlines Arena’s rafters, eagerly awaiting its No. 3 companion.

Regardless, Wade’s 16^th season, blocks record or not, will be one for the history books.