Dwyane Wade, arguably the greatest pro athlete that South Florida has ever seen, left Miami Heat fans in heartbreak over the NBA off season when he announced his decision to leave the Heat to sign with his hometown team, the Chicago Bulls.
Wade leaves the Heat as their all time franchise leader in multiple statistics. After being drafted by the team in 2003 from the University of Marquette with the fifth overall pick, Wade spent 13 years building the franchise into what it is now. He helped the team win three championships and stuck with them even through the hard times.
Wade wasn’t just a player on the Miami Heat – he was the Miami Heat.
He willed the team to the 2006 NBA title with one of the greatest performances in finals’ history. He consistently played at an MVP level. He brought two superstars (LeBron James and Chris Bosh) to Miami to win two more championships, knowing he would have to make sacrifices most players would never face. Fans knew, however, that as long as Wade was on the team he would somehow, some way, take the team to the top.
Wade left Miami with many great memories: the time he made a game- winning shot over Baron Davis in his first ever playoff game and dunked on Jermaine O’Neal, essentially announcing his arrival as a superstar to the world. He dribbled around Sasha Pavlovic and threw an alley oop to Shaquille O’Neal, making the crowd go absolutely crazy. When he threw the ball up in the air for Game Six in Dallas of 2006, he cemented the Heat as NBA champions and carved his place in NBA history. Perhaps his greatest individual play was dunking on Anderson Varejao, displaying his incredible talents once again. No one will forget when he stood up on the scorer’s table after making a game- winning shot and declared American Airlines Arena to be “his house.” When he dunked on Kendrick Perkins, he single handedly saved the Miami Heat’s season in Game Six in Charlotte of 2016, proving that as he once said “my belief is stronger than your doubt.”
From an emotional point of view, allowing Wade to leave is the absolute wrong choice. However, when analyzing his decision, there will always be a certain bias. If Wade had been re-signed, the Heat would be slight contenders in the present, but at the expense of crippling their future. That’s why letting Wade go was the best decision for the organization as a whole, as well as Wade himself – although it more than likely hurt all parties involved.
With 20,221 points, 4,944 assists, 4,126 rebounds, 1,414 steals, 759 blocks, 12 All-Star appearances and three championships – how will the Heat replace their franchise star and South Florida icon? How will they move on? As fans, we can only hope they are able to pick up the pieces of heartbreak and look positively towards the future.
