One last team-up: LeBron and D-Wade will be teammates one final time at All-Star Game
Dwyane Wade and LeBron James will share the court one final time Feb. 17 and, for the first time since the Big Three broke up in 2014, it will be as teammates.
For the second straight year, the NBA held a draft to determine the rosters for the All-Star Game and this year the league used the third round of the draft to let the captains pick from “special roster additions” Wade and Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki. With the first pick in the final round, James chose to reunite two-thirds of the Miami Heat’s Big Three.
“Everyone in the world knows who I’m going with. I’m going with Dirk,” James said during the prerecorded draft before bursting out into laughter. “I’m just kidding. I’m going with my buddy Dwyane Wade.”
After Thursday’s practice in Sacramento, Wade said “it’s only right” he’s on Team LeBron.
“I’m going to enjoy it,” Wade said. “My only goal All-Star Weekend is to try to throw LeBron one lob because that’s what everybody wants to see. Outside of that, I don’t need to do much else, maybe guard Dirk once.”
James and Wade, of course, played together in Miami from 2010-2014, helping the Heat, along with forward Chris Bosh, win two NBA titles in four seasons.
The two’s friendship traces back further than just when they finally united in South Florida. James was the No. 1 overall selection by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2003 NBA draft and Miami took Wade with the No. 5 pick in the same draft. In 2004, they played for the bronze medal-winning United States Olympic team, then reunited again in 2008 to win gold in Athens. Two years later, Wade convinced James and Bosh to come play with him.
They were All-Star teammates for all four of those seasons, plus the five before and two after when James was with the Cavaliers. Wade, however, missed the game the last two seasons while James wrapping up his second stint in Cleveland. In his final season in the NBA, Wade will get to play in his final All-Star Game, though, thanks to commissioner Adam Silver’s special invitation Friday for the three-time champion guard and Nowitzki, a former champion in his own right. Once it became clear James would have the opportunity to take Wade, there was never really much of a doubt what would happen.
“He better pick me,” Wade said Friday after the Heat’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at AmericanAirlines Arena. “I’m not even going to play. He better pick me. I’m not going to play this game.”
This season, Wade is averaging 14.0 points per game in a reserve role for Miami. He could, however, be an option to start for the Heat (25-27) moving forward after Miami dealt guards Tyler Johnson and Wayne Ellington to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.
The starter’s for Wade’s team, which was drafted by James: Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant, Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving, Toronto Raptors wing Kawhi Leonard, Houston Rockets guard James Harden and James. Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, the other captain, picked Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Philadelphia 76ers post player Joel Embiid, Oklahoma City Thunder swingman Paul George and Charlotte Hornets point guard Kemba Walker as his other starters.
Team LeBron also includes New Orleans Pelicans post player Anthony Davis, Golden State wing Klay Thompson, 76ers point Ben Simmons, Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard, San Antonio Spurs post player LaMarcus Aldridge, Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Antony Towns and Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal.
Team Giannis also includes Bucks wing Khris Middleton, Denver Nuggets post player Nikola Jokic, Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook, Brooklyn Nets guard D’Angelo Russell, Orlando Magic post player Nikola Vucevic, and Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry.
Antetokounmpo originally drafted Simmons before James proposed swapping him for Westbrook. Eventually, they came to an agreement, but not before Antetokounmpo played some hardball.
His pitch: “What if you put Dwyane Wade in the trade?”
This story was originally published February 7, 2019 at 7:21 PM.
