Imitation as a form of flattery has always been a sign of the greats marking their legacies—and Dwyane Wade is no different. Like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Allen Iverson, before him, the former Miami Heat star’s reach has gained him a budding player following.
Wade has always been vocal about the influence those three legends have had on him in all aspects of the game. He looked up to Jordan, Bryant, and Iverson, took pieces of their games, work ethic, and propelled himself into their stratosphere of top shooting guards the game has ever seen for the Miami Heat.
Now, Wade is doing things in a similar way for his younger counterparts.
For one, he is showing those behind him how to successfully transition into their second act.
Besides continuing endorsements from his playing career, Wade has released a book, a documentary, has ownership in restaurants, the Utah Jazz, Wade Cellars, Stance, and a sneaker company (Li-Ning), where he has signed other athletes.
There are also television gigs with TNT and TBS. But let us bring it back to basketball.
He has been retired for three seasons, yet his impact is still being felt between the lines. For lack of a better term, Wade has a number of children in the NBA.
And, almost, all of them are or were embedded in this year’s postseason.
The ones featured in the upcoming sections have all idolized, stolen moves from, been mentored by, or compared to the Miami Heat’s greatest player ever and to the point where he is gauged as their ceiling.
Miami Heat: Dwyane Wade Inspires – Kevin Huerter, Terry Rozier, And DeMar DeRozan
When one thinks of Dwyane Wade, Kevin Huerter of the Atlanta Hawks would never be the first name that correlates. But what Wade’s jersey swap tour did was shine a light on the admiration the Atlanta Hawks guard had for the Miami Heat legend from a young age.
"“It was just somebody that both me and my brother always looked up to growing up,” Kevin Huerter told The Washington Post of Wade. “We used to have his shoes. Obviously, I wear Number 3.”"
While Huerter is not putting up Wade-like numbers, his sample-sized play-in statistics had taken a slight bump up from those of the regular season and last year’s Eastern Conference Finals playoff run.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said for another Wade admirer who tried to mimic his game.
"“I think it’s just unique given how much I follow him, how much inspiration he’s given to me on the basketball side,” Terry Rozier told Celtics.com in 2019. “He changed the game for me.”"
Terry Rozier’s admiration was a little more obvious. Before joining the Charlotte Hornets and donning the number “3”, Rozier acknowledged adapting Wade’s speed and competitiveness to his game.
Anyone who watched him in Louisville or Boston could see the same. It’s no different from the way DeMar DeRozan found an aspect of Wade’s skills to hone in on:
"“I watched him growing up, I watched him at Marquette, I watched him throughout,” DeRozan said to the Miami Herald. “I remember, it’s crazy, when I played in the All-Star Game the first time, I told him I stole the pump fake from him.”"
Four All-Star appearances later and DeRozan is considered one of the best free agency pickups from last summer. He was, not only, the Chicago Bulls’ leading scorer with 27.9 points per game, but he was top 5 in the NBA—shooting 47 percent from the midrange with the pump fake as a catalyst.
However, that still did not draw comparisons like the next group.
Miami Heat: Dwyane Wade Comps – Victor Oladipo, Anthony Edwards, And Donovan Mitchell
Victor Oladipo is one of those players that could fit in each of the categories. He looked up to Wade as a kid, was mentored by him, and currently plays in the same arena the legend dubbed his house.
"“It was easy just to try to mold my game like his and compare the two because he was someone I could relate to. He was a 6-4 guard in the NBA, and that’s what I wanted to be,” Victor Oladipo told the Athletic."
To take it even further and when healthy, Oladipo provided steals and blocks statistics that are right on par. And on the other side, he ended the season by becoming the first Heat player to have a 40-point and 10 rebound game since Wade in 2011.
Oladipo did more than match the height and mannerisms. He incorporated something that The Athletic’s (subscription required) Jon Krawczynski referenced in regards to the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards:
"Anthony Edwards says he watches Dwyane Wade a lot on how he ran the pick-and-roll. “He’s one of the greatest shooting guards to ever play so if I can mimic him …”"
This is the same pick-and-roll pattern that Wade perfected so much that Kobe Bryant sought after him to figure out its mechanics. And Edwards, like Oladipo and Bryant before him, is beginning to master the Wade nuances.
Splitting the pick, euro-stepping, then being physical with the finish or rejecting the screen to render defenders useless. This is all while not being afraid to get into an offensive player when he is on defense.
It’s part of the reason why Edwards was branded Wade 2.0 by ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith. He also labeled Donovan Mitchell the same thing the year prior.
So, take that for what it is worth.
But ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan traced things back to how Mitchell worked his way to the comparisons:
"Mitchell’s affinity for Wade can be traced to his days as a teenager attending Greenwich Country Day school. He loved how Wade used his strength and explosiveness to score, and so he began to model his game after his."
Mitchell is the only one out of these three without the common Wade thread of coach Tom Crean. Yet, it did not stop him from being linked to Wade so much that it was believed the Heat would have drafted him before the Jazz made a trade to jump them with the pick.
Now with Wade as part-owner in Utah, Mitchell gets the luxury of being mentored from courtside while the next set of stars relies on it from a distance.
Miami Heat: Dwyane Wade Mentees – Paul George, CJ McCollum And Jimmy Butler
Paul George is on record about how much Dwyane Wade has helped him in his on-court development. That cannot be questioned.
However, as an 11-year veteran, the Los Angeles Clippers star is putting consideration into his basketball afterlife.
"“D-Wade is a guy I look up to,” Paul George said in 2019. “We have shared a bond through competition and now through mentorship as a guy that I look at and honestly want to model my off-brand, off of the court, stuff like.”"
Whether it is making business moves or helping figure out what jersey to spend time in, it has been documented in print and an ESPN series (My Journey) that Wade is his go-to guy.
This is a common theme. Just look at what CJ McCollum had to say on his relationship with the Miami Heat great.
"“I told him I wanted to be great consistently and I need to be able to talk to him to figure out how he was able to sustain it – not just basketball, but life, like off the court stuff.”"
Call it a coincidence or a well-thought-out plan. Either way, McCollum went from wearing the “number 3” jersey to seeking playoff advice to launching his own wine label, McCollum Heritage 91, like the former Heat star.
Did Wade plant that seed? We may never know, but there is no question what type of influence he had on his buddy Jimmy Butler.
"“I’d always hear back: What about Miami?” Butler’s agent Buddy Lee told Zach Lowe. “I can only assume the person who had a locker near Jimmy for a year and who is in a picture with Jimmy that has been the home screen on Jimmy’s phone had something to do with that.”"
In a way, Wade personally decided who he wanted to take over the reins when he retired in Miami. He knew full well that Butler’s personality would fit with Heat’s team mindset.
An NBA Finals run and Wade-like performances soon followed. This was a case of mentoring an off-court business decision and turning it into an on-court future.
Odds are these will not be the last batch of players to feel his influence. Particularly when the link between Wade and most of these athletes is nothing more than his ability to give them the availability and access to seek his help in any form.
That even stands for the mentees unable to enjoy the postseason, such as Bradley Beal. That, though, is how you solidify a legacy.