Here’s what surprised Wade about his final season. And a surprising admission by his coach
If you had been escorted, blind-folded, into Capital One Arena in Washington and Madison Square Garden in New York City the past two Saturday nights, you might not have known – during stretches – that the Heat was actually the road team.
“Let’s Go Heat” chants reverberated through the two arenas multiple times. Dwyane Wade was repeatedly cheered when he had the ball and serenaded with “D-Wade” and MVP chants. His baskets were met with thunderous applause, often louder than some scores by the home team.
Standing ovations and loud applause have followed Wade everywhere the Heat has played during his final season, even in cities where there wouldn’t seem to be much emotional attachment to him (like Denver) or markets with teams that suffered in part because of his excellence (Indianapolis).
Standing before a throng of reporters in the visitor’s locker-room at MSG on Saturday night after the Heat’s 100-92 win, Wade admitted the level of love from opposing fans this season has surprised him.
“For the most part, besides the first year of the Big Three era, I’ve always got a good reception,” he said. “This is on another level. This is off the charts. You don’t know what to expect. When I asked my fans to join me for one last dance, you don’t know really what to expect. I knew it would be a cool experience, but I didn’t know it would be this.
“To me, there’s no way better way for me individually to go out. It’s just been great. If you asked me to write a novel about my last year, this is the way I’d write it.”
Udonis Haslem, Wade’s teammate and close friend, also has been struck by the level of affection for Wade around the league.
“It’s crazy to see how much love he has in the league,” Haslem said. “It’s not just respect. It’s genuine love for Dwyane Wade the basketball player and the human being. It’s one thing for people to respect what he’s done around this league. You can’t not respect the things he’s done, the things he’s accomplished. It’s a whole other thing to see the genuine love coming from opposing teams, opposing arenas, and opposing players. That’s special.”
And Goran Dragic said the reaction to Wade in visiting arenas has provided an adrenaline boost for the Heat on the road.
“I feel like it’s every game like that,” Dragic said. “It’s D-Wade’s last dance so everybody has come to see him. You can see how he has an impact on the fans and it’s just amazing. For us, it’s good when you hear those chants, Let’s Go Heat. It feels like you’re playing at home.”
Afterward, Erik Spoelstra took a moment to reiterate his appreciation to coach Wade a final time.
“Very few times in this profession do you get an opportunity to coach someone for that long and also have time away from each other,” Spoelstra said. “There was a year and a half where I did not coach him. Both of us gained different perspective. When he came back, this year and a half has been the most enjoyable of all my years with Dwyane.”
Knicks coach and former Heat assistant David Fizdale, who offered a video tribute to Wade during a first quarter timeout and embraced him afterward, said after the game: “I’ve learned more from him than he learned from me. He’s one of those guys that when he says he’s your friend, he’s going to be there for you. All the tributes are well deserved. He’s one of the greatest guards that have ever played this game.’’
▪ According to the New York Daily News, Knicks guard Emmanuel Mudiay asked Wade if he would do a jersey swap with him after the game, but Wade – who has planned all of his jersey exchanges this season - said he was giving it away to somebody else.
THIS AND THAT
Hassan Whiteside –who had 17 points and 13 rebounds in just under 20 minutes on Saturday - has topped 20 minutes just once in his past 12 games off the bench; he played nearly 24 in a lopsided loss at Milwaukee.
But Whiteside, who wasn’t pleased when his minutes were reduced from 32.6 per game to 25.3 last season, has handled it professionally. (Here’s why he said he’s doing that.)
“He’s positive,” Dragic said. “He’s stayed focused and he works. Bam [Adebayo] has been amazing [as a starter]. But Hassan is just waiting for his opportunity to come and he was great. His energy is way higher than it was at the beginning of the season.”
Whiteside’s minutes are now down to 23.6 per game for the season, but he hasn’t publicly complained about anything this season. He’s averaging 12.4 points, 11.4 rebounds and 1.9 blocks.
His 23.2 rebounds per 48 minutes lead the league among players who have appeared in at least five games.
▪ Of Dion Waiters’ 399 shot attempts this season, 60 percent (239) have been three-pointers. On Saturday, it was 16 attempted threes in 23 shot attempts overall, and Waiters made 6 of those 16 en route to a season-high 28 points.
With Waiters shooting 37.2 percent on three pointers – well ahead of his 34.5 career average –Spoelstra said he has no problem with that or his shot selection overall.
“I used to hate those mid-range step back 16-foot jump shots,” Spoelstra said. “Now he’s either being super aggressive getting to the rack, which when he gets to the right weight, it’s tough to keep a body in front of him.
“He’s got that first step that’s really explosive. He’s got great touch behind the three-point line. He’s been working on it with [assistant coach Dan Craig] quite a bit, working on a little bit more balance. I’ve always liked the three ball from him.”
Waiters, who’s making a career-high 2.3 threes per game and attempting a career-high 6.3, said “16 threes is a bit too much for me.”
But, he said, he’s a “shot taker, shot maker.”
Here’s what Waiters told me about his target weight and his plans to be like an “action figure” next season.
▪ With 11 wins in March (against four losses), the Heat achieved its highest win total in a month since December 2013, during the Big 3 era.
Here are a lot more notes and reaction from Saturday night’s Heat win.
