NBA legend Dwyane Wade is arguably the greatest player in Miami Heat franchise history. The proof is in the pudding: D-Wade is the Heat’s career leader in points (21,556), assists (5,310), steals (1,492), field goals (7,842), free throws (5,391), and minutes (32,912).
More importantly, Wade helped Miami win three titles in 2006, 2012, and 2013. He and Udonis Haslem are the only players in Heat franchise history who possess championship rings from those years.
Wade hung up his sneakers at the end of the 2018-19 NBA campaign after 16 seasons. He is one of the best shooting guards of his era. At 6’4”, he was shorter than many of his defenders. Nevertheless, he left them befuddled with a quick first step and sweet shooting stroke.
Flash can do just about everything: drain triples, dunk on the fast break (even in half-court sets), shoot medium-range jumpers, defend, and motivate his teammates. It won’t surprise us one bit if he’s in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame one day.
Here’s our list of Dwyane Wade’s greatest career NBA games:
The 2006 NBA Finals between Dwyane Wade’s Miami Heat and Dirk Nowitzki’s Dallas Mavericks was the perfect example of one man willing his team to victory. D-Wade averaged an incredible 34.7 points during the series. More impressively, he singlehandedly helped Miami overcome an early 0-2 series deficit, win four games in a row, and secure the Heat’s first NBA title to the dismay of the 60-win Mavericks and their fans.
Game 3 of that series was a critical turning point for Wade and the Heat. Flash scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to help the Heat eke out a slim 98-96 win over the Mavericks. Wade finished with 42 points on 14-of-26 shooting. It would set off three more heroic performances for Wade, who was undeniably the Heat’s heart and soul that season.
The second round of the 2012 Eastern Conference playoffs between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers was a dogfight in every sense of the word. The Big Three of LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade duked it out with a physical Pacers team featuring Paul George, David West, George Hill, Roy Hibbert, and Lance Stephenson.
George, the budding second-year player, was hitting his stride. He became Indy’s go-to guy. His coming-of-age moment came in Game 2. He lost James on a quick first step and then posterized Chris “Birdman” Andersen in humiliating fashion in the waning moments of the third quarter. Indy went on to grab a 2-1 series lead after three games.
Nonetheless, Wade was not to be denied. Although he was a virtual no-show with just five points in the Heat’s lopsided loss in Game 3, he scored a combined 99 points in the next three games. Wade was the main cog in the Heat’s engine in Game 6, racking up 41 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Miami prevailed, 105-93, and earned its second straight trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.
In the early goings of the 2006 NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, it sure seemed the Miami Heat were toast, losing by an average of 12 points in the first two games on the road.
However, Wade has made it a habit to kick it up a notch when the chips are down. It’s been one of the trends in his remarkable NBA career – no wonder he’s the epitome of resilience on the court.
Wade played out of his mind in the next four games, never scoring less than 36 points each time. He poured in 36 markers in the decisive Game 6 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, completing the upset of the 60-win Mavericks and securing the Heat’s first Larry O’Brien Trophy.
There’s no question Dwyane Wade likes going up against the Chicago Bulls. He is a native Chicagoan who grew up in the city’s South Side. The legend of Dwyane Wade was born in the Windy City.
On this day, Wade enjoyed one of his finest regular-season performances. He played like a man possessed, scoring 48 points on a mere 21 shot attempts. His triple with 11.5 seconds left in regulation sent the game to overtime.
Wade sealed the deal in the final moments of the second overtime. As the Bulls’ John Salmons was about to drive to the basket, Wade stole the ball and raced the opposite way. He hoisted a desperate three-pointer which went in off the glass at the buzzer to the delight of the Heat faithful. The Heat won, 130-127.
Thirty-seven-year-old Dwyane Wade was just less than two months away from concluding his illustrious 16-year NBA career. On this day, he proved he could still take it to young guns such as Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green of the defending champions Golden State Warriors. No test was bigger than Golden State, which had won three of the past four NBA titles.
D-Wade held his own against Curry and his teammates. With Golden State up by two with just three seconds left, Wade put up a three-pointer which was blocked. Fortunately, Wade recovered possession and launched another trifecta which he banked in as the final horn sounded. American Airlines Arena erupted.
It was certainly one of D-Wade’s best moments as his NBA career wound down.
Dwyane Wade is one of the greatest players in Miami Heat franchise history. It’s not hard to imagine him earning a spot in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame one day. It’s just a matter of time.
If there’s a game you think we should add to our list, get in touch at requests@buysidesports.com.
Thanks,
The BuySideSports Team