Heat ready to celebrate Dwyane Wade’s Hall of Fame moment: ‘It’s going to be a surreal moment’
Coaches, teammates and others from every stage of Dwyane Wade’s NBA career will be in attendance to watch him be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday night in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Miami Heat contingent that will make the trip is expected to include current Heat center Bam Adebayo, president Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra, among many others.
Adebayo spent the first two seasons of his NBA career as Wade’s Heat teammate, Riley was the team president when the Heat drafted Wade in 2003 and also spent three seasons as Wade’s head coach, and Spoelstra was a Heat assistant coach when Wade was drafted before spending 10 seasons as his head coach.
“That sounds crazy that I used to be teammates with D-Wade,” Adebayo said recently. “I’m excited. I’m excited to be there. I’m excited to really give him his flowers. He definitely deserves it. He brought this city three championships and he was at the top of his game when he was here. So, for me, man, I was just honored to really be his teammate. I’m honored for him to actually invite me to the Hall of Fame. For me to be there, it’s going to be a surreal moment.”
Wade, 41, is widely considered to be the greatest player in Heat history. Riley labeled Wade this week as “the greatest player who ever played for the Heat.”
When did those coaching Wade know that he was special?
It would be easy to point to the 2006 NBA Finals, when Wade put together one of the best individual performances in a championship series in league history in his third NBA season. A 24-year-old Wade averaged 34.7 points on 46.8 percent shooting, 7.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.7 steals per game to lead the Heat back from a 2-0 series deficit against the Dallas Mavericks for the franchise’s first NBA championship.
But it was Wade’s first appearance in the NBA playoffs as a rookie in 2004 that opened eyes around the league. While the Heat didn’t win a championship that season, a 22-year-old Wade hit a game-winning floater over Baron Davis in his first playoff game and went on to average 18 points, four rebounds and 5.6 assists per game during Miami’s 13-game run in the 2004 playoffs before being eliminated in the second round by the Indiana Pacers.
“I was not Nostradamus at that time and nor am I now. But it was that playoff run,” said Spoelstra, who was a Heat assistant coach under then-head coach Stan Van Gundy during Wade’s first NBA playoff experience. “... That’s when Dwyane really put himself on the basketball map, where everybody understood that this guy was one of the elite talents in this league.”
Wade, who was drafted by Miami in 2003, is the Heat’s all-time leader in categories like points, games played, minutes played, assists and steals and is considered one of the top shooting guards in NBA history. Among his most impressive accomplishments: three championships with the Heat (2006, 2012, 2013), a Finals MVP award in 2006 and an NBA scoring title in the 2008-09 season.
Wade continues to rack up the accomplishments in retirement, purchasing an ownership stake in the NBA’s Utah Jazz in April 2021 and the WNBA’s Chicago Sky in June. His business partnerships include Wade Cellars, Thorne, Way of Wade, MISSION, Stance, Sleep Number, BallerTV, Proudly, Versace Eyewear, TMRW Sports, Budweiser Zero, and Jeeter.
In addition, Wade co-founded the Social Change Fund United with Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony to invest in and support organizations focused on empowering communities of color and advocating for the human rights of all Black lives. He also leads the Wade Family Foundation, which utilizes access and resources to provide relief to marginalized communities in need, and received an honorary doctorate degree from Marquette University.
“Everything that he takes on, he takes on with great sincerity, and I admire him for that,” Riley said. “A lot of players retire and they want to go off and be private. They’re not interested in the spotlight anymore. They’ve had it for 10, 15, 20 years and they just want to go off, live their life, be quiet, stay out of the news. There’s a lot of people like that.
“When you’re in front of that camera and in front of the media and now social media your whole life, Dwyane knows how to handle all these situations. So what he’s done post-career is just an incredible achievement on his part. And it’s not going to end. He’s just going to keep getting bigger and better, and he’s going to find his perfect niche, if he hasn’t already, somewhere. It’s just that growth.”
Wade isn’t officially employed by the Heat anymore, but the relationship he built with the organization during his legendary career will be on full display this weekend.
Spoelstra was in Las Vegas this week fulfilling his duties as a Team USA assistant coach in preparation for the FIBA Basketball World Cup. But Spoelstra will take a break to be in Springfield on Saturday for Wade’s Hall of Fame moment before flying to Abu Dhabi to rejoin Team USA.
“I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be one heck of a party,” Spoelstra said in anticipation of Hall of Fame weekend. “If you know anything about Dwyane, this is going to be 10x big. It’s so well deserved. It’s the ultimate acknowledgment of his greatness.
“I tell him every time I see him, I miss him. It was really great seeing him for Games 3 and 4 [of the NBA Finals in June]. He pointed and waved before Game 3 right before tip. Quinny [Heat assistant coach Chris Quinn] said to me, ‘Hey, Dwyane is trying to get your attention.’ So I waved back. Then Game 4, he actually came onto the floor to say, ‘I just wanted to see you face to face and say good luck. I didn’t want to wave from across the way.’ And that’s what makes Dwyane Dwyane. He brings the human part of it that transcends the game. I love Dwyane. I’m really looking forward to it and I’m looking forward to celebrating with all of the Heat family and all of his family.”
This story was originally published August 9, 2023 at 11:26 AM.
