Dwyane Wade returns home to the Miami Heat for his farewell tour
And so Dwyane Wade landed back in Miami. He ended up back home. After years of slowing down in Miami, a couple of years bouncing around the East seemed to expedite the aging process. In his final season in the NBA, Wade started just two of the 72 games he played.
The final days were coming, the farewell tour underway. Decades of All-Star seasons, heart-stopping moments, and three title runs were drawing to a close.
But in his finals months as an NBA player, Wade still had enough magic for one show-stopping play. He still had the goods to close out a game with one more memorable performance, one last highlight for the reel.
Of course, that couldn’t come against the Minnesota TImberwolves or the Sacramento Kings. No, Flash needed to be on the big stage against a prime-time team. He needed a proper spotlight for one last moment.
A spotlight like the one that shined on the defending champion Golden State Warriors. They had just added multi-time All-Star Kevin Durant to help sweep LeBron in the Finals and were on yet another tear through the regular season.
At the time, the Heat had just scraped past 25 wins. Unlike the Warriors, who were on the prowl for another title, Miami seemed ill-fit even to make the playoffs. The biggest thing happening in 2019 for South Beach? The Father Prime tour.