Wade’s ‘One Last Dance’ is coming to an end the only way he knows how — by being himself

The time stamp will be etched in Miami Heat history for the rest of time.

April 9, 2019, 10:01 p.m.

With 1:02 remaining in an eventual 122-99 win against the Philadelphia 76ers, Dwyane Wade walked off the floor of AmericanAirlines Arena for the final time as an NBA player.

And he went out in vintage Dwyane Wade style in front of a sellout crowd that stayed until the very end.

On Tuesday, Wade’s “One Last Dance” saw one last home start (his first since being traded back to the Heat in February 2018), one last standing ovation inside the arena he built, one last jump onto the scorer’s table — after one last slip and fall, no less — to declare Miami his home one last time.

He scored 30 points and played for a season-high 34 minutes and 43 seconds on the floor, including 10:03 in the fourth quarter with longtime teammate and “brother” Udonis Haslem by his side.

“I told everybody I was going to go out in D-Wade fashion. I think this year I did,” Wade, 37, said. “I went out the way that my fans and my supporters saw fit for me.”

All this after a 25-minute pre-game ceremony reminiscing through the 16-year Hall of Fame career and a season of reflection and remembering and soaking in everything that has led up to this point.

“It’s like you blitzed him with a wave of emotions and then tell him to go win it and put on a show for the fans,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It’s a gift he’s always had. The understanding of the theater of it, the competitive entertainment of it, he has a way of rising to that moment.”

Wade didn’t blink.

He simply did what he has done since the Heat drafted him with the fifth overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.

Tuesday night was no exception. He opened scoring with a dunk 15 seconds into the game. He had 8 points by the end of the first quarter, 14 at halftime.

By the start of the fourth quarter, Wade and the Heat knew they had been eliminated from the playoffs, victims of the Detroit Pistons rallying to defeat the Memphis Grizzlies.

At that point, with the Heat already up by 31 points, it was time for some fun.

With 11:05 left to play, Wade and Haslem walked onto the court together. Over the next 10 minutes and three seconds, the focus was solely on those two.

The results: 14 points for Wade on 5-of-10 shooting, four made three-pointers and one stumble into friends John Legend and Chrissy Teigan, who were sitting courtside. Haslem scored 7 points and hauled in four rebounds.

“I just wanted to enjoy it a little bit more, just a little bit longer,” Wade said. “I love playing out there. I love playing out on that court. I love wearing that jersey. It was just a great feeling. It was great to end my time on the floor with my brother. I wouldn’t want it any other way. I was just trying to have some fun, get a couple shots to fall, get the crowd into it. It was cool.”

Haslem added: “It felt like old times.”

And then there were three sets of jersey swaps inside AmericanAirlines Arena, a fixture in the “One Last Dance” tour. First it was with the 76ers’ Jimmy Butler, a fellow Marquette alumnus. Then it was with his oldest son Zaire. And finally, it was with all of his Heat teammates. While they held No. 3 jerseys, Wade had a No. 11 with the name “Hank” on the back in honor of his agent Henry “Hank” Williams who died in January 2018.

“The jersey with my teammates was something I wanted to do all year,” Wade said. “I was just waiting for the right time ... but for me when I thought about what jersey I was going to hold up, this season for me was dedicated to my agent; it was dedicated to Hank. ... I just wanted to represent him. As we tried to do all year, we tried to carry ourselves and do things the way we know he would approve of and I know he’s up there shaking his head, biting his lip, biting his tongue and he’s proud.”

And with Tuesday done and over with, this “One Last Dance” is now down to one last game — Wednesday night at the Brooklyn Nets. Wade said he will play in the game even though Tuesday to him will serve as the real final sendoff.

After that, it’s off to Los Angeles to transition to full-time dad for a bit. Daughter Kaavia just turned five months old. Xavier is 5, Zion 11, Zaire 17 and about to be a senior in high school. Just having all of them inside the arena on Tuesday night, Wade said, meant more than anything he could have done in the game itself.

“He will still be a huge part of the Miami Heat, much like you see the other greats that come here,” Spoelstra said. “And even though Wade will be living on the West Coast, he will be here.”

After all, no matter where he is, Wade will always consider Miami home.

“This city has allowed me to grow,” Wade said. “I hope they are proud of what they helped me become. This city means everything to me. It’s forever and ever and ever going to be my home. It’s the end of the basketball part of me, but there’s so much more that I want to do with this city. So much more that we can accomplish together.”

This story was originally published April 10, 2019 at 11:49 AM.

Jordan McPherson

Miami Herald

305-376-2129

Jordan McPherson covers the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Panthers for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and covered the Gators athletic program for five years before joining the Herald staff in December 2017.