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Dwyane Wade announced earlier this week that he'd be getting back to the league for one final dance, and the Heat officially announced his return for the 2018-19 season on a veteran's minimum contract 2 days ago. News of his anticipated return and ensuing farewell tour has caught the imagination of long-time basketball fans, who're already grieving the retirement of Manu Ginobili this past season - Manu, like Tim Duncan, retired without the farewell tour that the duo deserved so richly.
Wade's announcement has enabled NBA fans across America to pay their respects to the all-time great for one last time at their home court, like Kobe and Michael Jordan before him.
#5 Miami Heat at Charlotte Hornets, 21st October 2018
The very first playoff opponents of Wade's Heat career, the Hornets have borne a fair amount of the brunt of The Flash's playoff performances.
In 2004, a rookie Dwyane Wade was already the Heat's best player as the #4 seeded Heat took 7 games to get past the #5 seeded Hornets, who also had Baron Davis in their ranks at that time. The Heat squad at the time also comprised of Lamar Odom and Caron Butler, who were provided great support by Eddie Jones who averaged 15 points per game in that series, one in which the home team won all 7 games.
It was in the 2016 playoffs that Wade had the last vintage playoff performance of his career. Against a young Hornets side that had Kemba leading the way, Wade turned the clock back to average 19 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game as the starting shooting guard, bearing the brunt of the playmaking responsibilities and shouldering added scoring responsibilities in Bosh and Stoudemire's absence.
The Hornets are not likely to forget this performance in a hurry, but Michael Jordan's franchise is sure to roll out the red carpet to bid farewell to an all-time great.
#4 Miami Heat at San Antonio Spurs, 8th November 2018
The Heat and the Spurs met in 2 historic Finals series in back-to-back years: 2013 and 2014. While Wade was already slipping from his peak game by the time they met in 2013, his rather disappointing performance in 2014 caused many experts to attach the 'washed' label to his name for good, even though he came back with a vengeance to the 2016 playoffs.
What can't be forgotten, however, is Wade's vintage performance in Game 4 of the 2013 Finals, when he dropped 32 points at the AT&T Center to help the Heat tie the series 2-2 on the Spurs' home court, allowing the series to extend beyond the 5 games in which it looked like it would finish after a 36-point blowout loss in Game 3.
Wade is a universally loved player, by and large - especially at this stage of his career. In a season when the Spurs will no longer have their resident wizard for the first time in 16 seasons, one final dance by a similarly aesthetically pleasing player on their homecourt will surely be welcomed like few other occasions.
#3 Miami Heat at Chicago Bulls, 24th January 2019
No place is quite like home, and home is what D-Wade called Chicago for the first 18 years of his life. Born on the Southside of the city, an area notorious for lawlessness, gangster culture and an atmosphere of impending doom due to murders happening left, right and center, Wade embraced basketball as a path out of the doldrums of that environment.
A product of Harold L. Richards High School in Oak Lawn, a growth spurt prior to his junior year accentuated the growth of his basketball career as he averaged over 20 points per game in each of his junior and senior high school years, eventually being recruited by Marquette and joining the Wisconsin-based team for college basketball.
Wade played for a season with the Bulls (2016-17), but he negotiated waivers prior to the start of last season in order to join LeBron at Cleveland after the departures of Jimmy Butler and Rajon Rondo. A rather forgettable campaign that culminated with the #8 seed and a first round exit, Wade is likely to still be received with open arms by a Bulls crowd that always embraces its hometown heroes.
#2 Miami Heat at Detroit Pistons, 24th February 2019
The Pistons-Heat rivalry was among the defining rivalries of the Eastern Conference during the mid-noughties. The two teams faced off during successive Conference Finals in the years 2005 and 2006, with the Heat winning the latter, en route to the first title in the history of their franchise.
Wade had a pivotal role to play in both series, and he was booed pretty loudly by fans at the Palace of Auburn Hills - the former home of the Pistons before they moved to the Little Caesars Arena in 2017. The Palace has been home to several great players during the playoffs during a 6-year stretch during which the Pistons made the Conference Finals every single season.
Rip Hamilton and Dwyane Wade engaged in some of the most brutal two-way battles in playoff history, and Pistons fans will be eager to bid farewell to their enemy of yore when the Heat go to Motor City late next season.
#1 Miami Heat at Dallas Mavericks, 29th March 2019
Quite easily the Mavericks' greatest Finals nemesis, Wade was a thorn in their path in the 2006 Finals, when they were heavily tipped to beat the Heat having homecourt advantage and a well-rounded squad capable of holding the Heat's offense down.
Wade chipped in with what is widely regarded as the greatest Finals performance in the 21st century, averaging 34+ points per game (20 more than his closest teammate Shaq, who averaged 13.7 PPG through 6 games). The fact that he cemented the championship at the American Airlines Center in Dallas rubbed salt into the collective wounds of the Mavs faithful.
The Mavs paid him back in kind in the 2011 Finals, when LeBron's meltdown threw shade over Wade's exemplary Finals performance, and the Heat's loss prevented the Flash from winning the second Finals MVP trophy of his career.
Old beefs, however, will be forgotten on Wade's farewell tour, as his popularity transcends teams barriers. Expect the Mavs to send out the third greatest shooting guard of all time in a manner that befits a player of his stature.
