Miami Heat legend, Dwyane Wade, played his final home game on Tuesday night. Just like his career was, It was surely a night to remember.
Before he even stepped on the court for his last regular season home game, and what would be his last home game ever for the Miami Heat, Dwyane Wade had already set the world on fire. From the many tribute videos popping up all over the internet and social media, to full-blown national tributes in his honor by Budweiser and Gatorade, this day and night was a tear jerker.
On top of the various video tributes offered up to the three-time NBA Champion and Miami Heat legend, the Miami Heat of course planned a ceremony for him prior to Tuesday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers. Although it was this ceremony that reportedly caused the TNT network to not broadcast the game nationally, instead opting to go with match-up of backups between the Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards, it seems like it was well worth it.
The ambiance was set by the Heat as they had set it up so that the arena seating would read “WADE”. There would be graphics and lighting packages that included a floor projection of Wade’s signature number “3”, and a projection that read “L3gacy” in honor of Wade. When the tribute video itself started, there were even more fireworks.
Of course the video included words from his teammates, but what really set it off was who else showed up in the tribute. The 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama made an appearance in the video, stating that Dwyane Wade “did us proud”. Arguably the most touching part of the tribute was a reenactment of Wade’s iconic “from Robbins, Illinois” commercial by his son Zaire Wade, who would also introduce his dad to speak before the American Airlines Arena crowd.
After all the tributing was over, there was a game to be played, a game in which D-Wade would start by the way after mainly playing a bench role this season. Well, it wasn’t ever much of a game. Although they were down 8-2 early, they then jumped out on a 22-2 run until the Sixers finally scored their 12th point with 3:57 remaining.
The first quarter ended with a score of 34-20 in favor of the Miami Heat. The Heat would outscore Philadelphia in the next two quarters by at least five points per period, 30-18 in the third, before being outscored 39-31 in the fourth. It still wasn’t enough though as the Miami Heat came away victorious by a score of 122-99 in what was Dwyane Wade’s final home game ever.
Wade would finish with 30 points, three rebounds and three assists in his last game in the home of the Miami Heat. He led all scorers in the game, with the next highest being his own teammate Bam Adebayo who had 19 in the game. This was truly a great send off for a player that most consider the third greatest shooting guard of all time.
It wasn’t a night of pure happiness though, as the Heat were officially eliminated from playoff contention. On top of winning their final two games, the Miami Heat needed two losses from the Detroit Pistons to close the season and at least one from the Charlotte Hornets, who both won on Tuesday.
On top of that awful turn of events, Dwyane Wade fell off the scorers table on an initial attempt to hop atop the table and salute the crowd as he likes to do. The fall was a lighthearted way to end a glorious day in Miami Heat and Miami Sports history, as Wade emerged fine and it saw the end of an illustrious era. He would also exchange jerseys with every member of the team, as he held up a jersey number 11 for his long-time manager who’s passed away, Henry Thomas.
Even with Paul Pierce’s notoriously asinine comments about having a better career than Dwyane Wade, and even though the Miami Heat will painfully miss the post season in Flash’s final season, this was still a great final dance for the Miami Heat’s greatest player of all time. Farewell Flash, you will be greatly missed. Guess that only leaves one last game, among Wade’s one last dance. *tear.