Turning up the Miami Heat: Cherishing and celebrating No. 3

NBA superstar Dwyane Wade is giving the league and the Miami Heat, One Last Dance.

Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr.’s career in the National Basketball Association is coming to an end, and the circus that is NBA Media Day was centered around it in Miami.

Swaddled in a black cotton hoodie with “Wade 3:16” across the chest in bright white letters, Wade greeted a scrum of reporters to kick off Miami Heat training camp for the final time in his usual, laid-back style.

"“I’ve been a pretty good basketball player for a long time,” Wade said with a smile. “This is definitely something I’ve mastered.”"

As he reflected on his playing days from the time he was a toddler to the first time he donned a Heat uniform, Wade was his usual giddy self, as he greeted several familiar faces amongst the South Florida media.

While most of the questions were centered around his decision and the timetable for it, the 16-year veteran calmly reflected on what was (for us, at least) a long-awaited return.

Fast forward weeks later.

Heat training camp is in full swing and despite constant Jimmy Butler trade rumors, the team has remained primarily intact (although some players have not been made available to the media).

So what will the fuss be all about this season?

With Miami’s status in the Eastern Conference due to change at any given minute, barring a change of heart from the Minnesota Timberwolves organization, it’s evidently clear that this 82-game campaign (for the fans and media, at least) will not be fixated on the Heat’s game-by-game results.

Let’s be real: it’s all about No. 3.

And why shouldn’t it be?

Wade will end his career as Miami’s franchise leader in points, assists, steals, minutes and games, all totals that will not likely be reached in the near future.

Why all the outside noise then, you may ask?

While Wade produced just six games with 20 or more points a season ago, the Kobe Bryant treatment will be in full effect for the Robbins, Illinois-native, in every road arena he visits.

Does that mean he’ll produce a 61-point explosion during his final farewell? No.

In fact, a modest outing of around 15 points is what many (including myself) expect, and rightfully so.

Wade just isn’t the same player anymore.

He no longer boasts the explosion that made him a spectacle to see for over 10 years. He no longer has the ability to score 40 on any given night, because even “Father Prime” loses to Father Time eventually.

That’s why tickets to Wade’s final regular-season home game against the Philadelphia 76ers have already began to sell out.

That’s why fans will pile into arenas to, as he put it, “boo for him.”

Having been inactive for much of the NBA offseason, I can assure you that despite my absence, my notifications were on full blast as I navigated through a four-month period filled with summer classes and outside commitments.

Any time the small “SportsCenter” jingle rang through my speakers, I was checking. Any time a silent notification popped up during a lecture, I was surely reading them all, much to my professor’s dismay.

Then the announcement came.

And while I half-way expected this news, it didn’t stop me from getting slightly emotional as I watched my favorite basketball player fight back tears during a heartfelt YouTube message to fans across the country.

It would be easy for me to sit here and account for all of the memorable moments Wade recorded in a Heat uniform. I could even dissect the year-and-a-half span that saw him relocate from the shores of Lake Michigan to Lake Erie; but even that wouldn’t do him justice.

Neither would a replay of his tour-de-force performance in the 2006 NBA Finals, one many to this day still call the greatest ever.

How about the iconic “My House” shot against the Chicago Bulls?

Nope.

Nor his posterizing dunk over Anderson Varejao, that effectively ended the Brazilian’s career.

The bottom line is this: it’s time to sit back and cherish what the three-time champion has brought to the table since his arrival in the NBA back in 2003.

Because once this chapter reaches its inevitable end, there’s no turning back the page and writing another.