The story behind Dwyane Wade’s triple-double performance in his final NBA game
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 113-94 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday at Barclays Center. It marked the end of the Heat’s season, which finished with a 39-43 record, and the end of Dwyane Wade’s NBA career.
1. Wade walked off the team bus at Barclays Center wearing a flashy gold jacket. With every Heat player wearing a suit, the first thing Wade did after entering the arena was gather his teammates for one final team photo at center court.
The night was full of those “one final time” moments for Wade, savoring each one because he knew this was it.
With close friends and Banana Boat crew members LeBron James, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony, and wife Gabrielle Union-Wade sitting courtside, Wade savored every second of his final NBA game — Game No. 1,231 of his career, including the playoffs — before retirement. The 37-year-old Wade finished the Heat’s season finale, a 113-94 loss to the Nets in Brooklyn, with a triple-double stat line of 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
Kobe Bryant scored 60 points in his final game. But Wade found another way to end his career, with the fifth triple-double of his career and his first triple-double since Feb. 4, 2011.
“I don’t know why, but everybody now feels like you have to go out and score 60 in your last game because Kobe did it,” Wade said. “So hopefully I took the bar all the way back down to just go get a triple double. That’s easier.”
Making it even more special was the fact Wade clinched the triple-double on an assist to longtime teammate and close friend Udonis Haslem, who made an 18-foot jump shot with 45 seconds remaining in the third quarter to give Wade his 10th assist of the night.
James, Paul and Anthony jumped from their seats in celebration immediately after Haslem’s shot went in.
“Hey, listen, we all started this journey together,” James said in a courtside interview with Fox Sports Sun. “Obviously [Chris Paul] came into the league a couple years after us, but we have a brotherhood that’s just so much more than basketball. CP played last night, we had our last regular-season game last night and Melo’s right here in New York so we kind of made the plan, made the decision to come up here.
“Listen, we couldn’t miss D-Wade’s last game. This is the last time he’s going to be on an NBA floor wearing that Miami Heat uniform, that No. 3, so we’re happy to be here to support.”
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And Wade was happy they were there to support him. After the game, he exchanged
“It means a lot,” Wade said. “They know I’ll always be there for them, especially in a moment like this. No matter what I’m doing, I’ll be there for their last games. It was cool to see those guys over there. I’m glad they came, but at the same time I wish they weren’t here because they kept talking to me all game about shoot, shoot, shoot. But it was great. We’ve got a brotherhood. Those are my brothers. It was fitting.”
Wade played through a left knee injury he suffered following Tuesday’s emotional home finale, stumbling while trying to jump onto the scorer’s table in an effort to recreate his iconic “This is My House” celebration one last time before walking off the AmericanAirlines court. But Wade still logged 36 minutes Wednesday.
There were certain points throughout the day, though, that Wade was unsure if he would play in Brooklyn.
“I was very close,” Wade said when asked if he ever considered not playing Wednesday. “It was unfortunate, man, that I had that fall. With the way that my knee is set up, it can’t take that. With the fall that I had yesterday, it’s a long story to go into and why. We did a lot before the game. I actually woke up at like 10 o’clock today to get treatment. … My whole goal was to play a couple minutes and possibly sit down, but then you get out there and you’re having a little fun.”
And for the second consecutive game, Wade was in the starting lineup after playing his previous 96 games with Miami — including the playoffs — off the bench. It marked his first starts with the Heat since a 2016 second-round playoff series against the Raptors.
But Wednesday’s start was especially meaningful for Wade, and not just because it was the final one of his NBA career. Wade started alongside Haslem for the first time since an April 13, 2015 win over the Magic.
Haslem finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes for his first double-double since April 5, 2015.
What’s next for Wade, who is relocating his life to Los Angeles after the season?
“Well tonight, as you can see, I’m about to go party,” Wade said with a smile. “I’m about to go dance. And then after that, we’ll figure it out. I don’t really have any plans right now. This is as far as I have on my schedule is April 10. But we’ll figure everything out pretty soon.”
Wade does know Wednesday was his final NBA game. He’s sure about that.
“I think everybody close to me understands that this is a for real thing for me,” said Wade, who played 16 NBA seasons. “I haven’t wavered at one point, and I’ve had everyone’s support the whole way. … This is for real. I won’t be making a comeback. You don’t retire at 37 and make a comeback. [Michael] Jordan was special to be able to come back and play into his 40s, but this is it.”
2. Haslem has yet to decide if he will retire this offseason. If he returns next season, it would mark his 17th in the NBA.
“It’s possible,” Haslem said when asked if Wednesday was his final NBA game.
As a team captain, Haslem has been used in more of a leadership role in recent years. He’s logged just 277 minutes of playing time in 40 regular-season games since the start of the 2016-17 season.
“I might need three days,” said a smiling Haslem when asked when he’ll make a decision on his NBA future. “I ain’t played 30 minutes in five, six years. I’ll definitely need an ice bath.”
Actually, the 38-year-old Haslem hasn’t played 25 or more minutes in a game since April 7, 2015
“If he still wants to play, keep playing,” Wade said of his advice for Haslem. “Keep being a part of it until he doesn’t want to. The fortunate part for UD is he’s with an organization that will allow him to make this decision. I’ll let him know, if he’s not ready to walk away from the game, don’t do it. Keep it going.”
3. Wade’s final regular-season career stats: 23,165 points, 4,933 rebounds, 5,701 assists, 1,620 steals and 885 blocks in 1,054 games.
Wade finished 29th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, 41st on the NBA’s all-time assist list and tied for 29th on the all-time steals list. Wade finished eight blocks short of matching Jordan’s regular-season record for blocks by a guard (893), but he owns that all-time record if playoffs are included.
4. A day after indicating that he will consider opting out of his $27.1 million player option with the Heat for next season because of his lack of playing time, Hassan Whiteside did not play Wednesday against the Nets.
Spoelstra said Whiteside’s DNP-coach’s decision came because Haslem was inserted into the starting lineup, which changed the Heat’s big man rotation. Bam Adebayo played as the reserve center.
“I asked [Whiteside] and he said, ‘No, let UD roll.’ I think we all felt that anyway,” Spoelstra said.
It marked Whiteside’s first DNP-coach’s decision of the season.
5. Adebayo became the 17th player in Heat history to play all 82 games in a season, and he’s the first since Norris Cole did it in 2013-14.
Adebayo averaged 8.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists in his second NBA season.
This story was originally published April 10, 2019 at 10:11 PM.
