‘There’s Michael, there’s Kobe and there’s Dwyane. End of discussion’ | Opinion

Flash. Dwyane. Wade. D$. D Wade.

Here are some things …

Once upon a time in 2010, the Heat, flat in their interregnum, are playing the Phoenix Suns. The Suns are a Western Conference powerhouse led by star forward, Amar’e Stoudemire. With six seconds left in the first half, Phoenix trails by nine and is moving to cut the lead. Stoudemire, a 6’10” greyhound, having beaten his man on a screen, has an easy shot.

But a threat looms.

Even as Stoudemire eyes the rim, Dwyane Wade hunkers down near the paint, hands on his thighs, coiled. As Stoudemire rises for an easy five-footer, Wade — giving away half a foot and 40 pounds — launches himself and blocks the shot.

But that’s not the thing.

Here’s the thing. D snatches the ball from between Stoudemire’s hands and thrusts it to the ground. He generates momentum toward the opponent’s basket (now 70 feet away). He bounces the ball back to himself and — with two seconds left on the clock — launches a perfect three-point shot. Google it. It’s one of the great NBA plays of the century.

Because … Wade.

In the 2006 NBA Playoffs, Wade gives one of the defining performances in the history of American team sports. The Heat are down two games to zip in the best-of-seven NBA finals and trail by 13 deep in the third quarter. It’s over. To this day, no team has ever come back to win an NBA finals series after going down three games to zero. If you lived in South Florida at the time, you can still conjure that dreadful jelly feeling in your gut. It was bad. It was Butch-and-Sundance-on-the-cliff-trapped-by-the-Super-Posse bad.

But … Wade.

No. 3 scores 12 points over the next 18 minutes to secure the win. He ices Game 5 in overtime with two free throws that don’t even graze the rim (I can still see Mark Cuban’s face). In Game 6, he blocks one of the most unblockable players of all time, Dirk Nowitzki, and leads the Heat to its first championship.

Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. is the greatest athlete in Florida history. At the two-guard, there’s Michael, there’s Kobe and there’s Dwyane. End of discussion. Full stop. (Footnote: If you’re from South Florida and don’t know that the “y” comes before the “a,” please just put this article down and step out of the room).

He’s cool. He’s kind. He looks like he just walked off a GQ cover. There’s a playfulness about him that masks one of the fiercest competitors in modern American sports.

We’ve watched him slow down, this man who, at 37, would be in his prime in any other profession. We’ve watched as season by season, game by game, he’s come to rely more on savvy and guile. And yet …

Just a few weeks ago, against the Golden State Warriors (the best basketball team on Earth), Miami finds itself down by two with seven seconds left in the game. The Heat awkwardly pass the ball around the perimeter trying to find an open man. They’re freelancing — and not in a good way. Nobody can get a clear shot. Wade kicks a pass out trying to get open and receives the ball at the top of the arc with two Warriors draped all over him. He goes to shoot, but Kevin Durant — probably the most agile big man in the game (and in his prime) — rushes out and gets a hand on the ball. So freeze.

That’s it. Size wins. Youth wins. Game over.

But … Wade.

The NBA has calculated that 0.7 seconds is the minimum amount of time it takes a player to execute a shot. After Wade gets blocked, the ball drops into his hands with… yup — 0.7 seconds left. Wade shoots. Wade scores. Wade wins. Because as this insane game-ending frenzy is unfolding, he has the basketball instinct to take a half step back so the shot is a three-pointer.

Because … Wade.

Three championships; an NBA Finals MVP; an NBA scoring title; an Olympic gold medal (he led the U.S. team in scoring); more than 23,000 career points (top 30 of all time); 1,052 blocks (most of any guard in history). And 5 million South Florida hearts.

One day in the next few weeks, Wade will windmill-Euro-step off a professional basketball court for the last time. I’m hoping the Heat sneaks into the playoffs as an eight seed. Because with No. 3, you never know. There’s always a chance that final moment will be game seven of the NBA Finals. And that it’ll end in a crazed frenzy with D Wade hitting the winning shot against the Warriors.

Because with No. 3, we always have … had … a chance.

When that day comes. Whenever it comes. I’ll cry like a baby.

Christopher Demos-Brown is a Miami-based attorney and playwright. Dwyane Wade and his wife, Gabrielle Union, co-produced Demos-Brown’s Broadway play, “American Son.”