He came back
In the social media and me..me..me era that is 2019, players, their egos and money can often times drive wedges in the middle of any relationship. This was almost the case with Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat, as Pat Riley has recently admitted that he didn’t handle what ended up being D-Wade’s year and half long departure the right way.
He says that if he had given Wade a max deal in 2014, which Wade deserved having never being the highest paid player on his team, he would have never had left. Those hard feelings garnered over that contract dispute didn’t stop Dwyane Wade from making his way back home though. Although it didn’t work out in Cleveland, he surely could have asked to be traded somewhere else, or walked away from the game entirely.
He didn’t, however. Not only did he not walk away from the game, or an opportunity to come back to the franchise where it all started, he did so with flare. Even while coming off the bench this season for the Miami Heat, Dwyane Wade was arguably their best player for the season.
While he was without a doubt the most consistent player on the team throughout this season, he was second only to swing-man Josh Richardson in points, and was near the top of the list in every other statistical category. To reiterate, he did this off the bench, averaging only around 26 minutes per game.
Looking at his overall accomplishments, he was a 13-time All-Star, a three-time NBA Champion, and the finals MVP in the 2005-2006 season. He was the NBA scoring champion in the 2008-2009 season, an eight time All-Star, an All-Rookie team performer in 2003-2004, and even claimed an All Star Game MVP trophy in the 2009-2010 season. Lie to yourself all you like, you would be hard pressed to identify another fitting of the title, but these are the reasons why Dwyane Wade is the greatest Miami Heat player of all time.