#OneLastDance - How Good was Dwayne Wade?
- Sep 24, 2018
- 5 min read
On the 16th of September, the 12x All-Star, Finals MVP, scoring champ and 3x NBA championship winner announced in an emotional video that the 2018-2019, would be his 16th and his last season in the NBA. Wade will re-join the Miami Heat one last time. So with the announcement out, now seems like a good time to look back and appreciate just how good Dwayne Wade was, so we can appreciate him every time he takes the court this coming season.
Wade didn’t enter the league until he was 22. Prior to drafting Wade, the heat went 25-57. When Wade came in, he averaged 16.2 points on 46.5% and began, what was a great defensive career with an average of 1.4 steals, which lead the team. The Miami Heat team wasn’t great, outside of Wade, Lamar Odom and Eddie Jones, the team struggled to get points on the board. Despite Wade lifting his average to 21 points for the series, they were eliminated 4-2 by the Pacers in the second round of the playoffs. Wade’s performance did earn him a spot on the all-rookie team though.
It didn’t take Wade long to break out as a player, in his sophomore year he jumped to 24.1 points on 47.8%, increased his assists to 6.8 (2.3 more than his rookie season) averaged 5.2 assists, 1 block a game and maintained his effort in the steals column. Despite the addition of Shaquille O’Neal, who averaged 22.9, the Heat lost to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals. Wade would finish 8th in MVP voting, 2nd for Most Improved Player and also get the nod for his first NBA All-Star appearance. D-Wade’s career took off in a ‘flash’ (so to speak).
In his third year, Wade would step up again, rising to 27.2 points per game, shooting better at 49.5%, while averaging almost 2 steals per game. Wade and Shaq would go on to win the NBA Championship. Wade would average 28.4, 5.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists along with 2.2 steals for the playoffs. Come the finals against Dallas, Wade dropped 42 in game 3, and another 43 in game 5. ‘Flash’ averaged 34.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.7 steals and a block across the six-game series, an incredible stretch of games which would earn him the Finals MVP award. Of course, on paper, Wade had Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning, two very dominant big men, when they were in their prime, but in the 2005-2006 playoffs, they were definitely not. Mourning played only 11 minutes per game and contributed 2.7 points, 2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. Shaq on the other hand, who claims that Wade wasn’t the leader but was “The other guy,” when they won the championship in 2006 averaged 13.7 points and 10.2 rebounds. So, Wade, who had two other guys average double digits, (Shaq and Antoine Walker who averaged 13.8) beat the Dallas Mavericks, 4-2 who had a Dirk Nowitzki averaging 22.8, prime Jason Terry who averaged 22 and Josh Howard who averaged 14.7 and 8.2 rebounds.
Dwayne Wade carrying the Miami Heat to a championship against the Mavs might be one of the most overlooked accomplishments in NBA history, purely because people hear “But Wade had Shaq” and think he had the help of an ‘All-Time Great’ version of Shaq.
Wade missed a fair amount of the next two seasons playing only 51 games in each after a series of injuries and surgeries. However, when he did manage to play, he averaged 27.4 in 2006-2007, where the Heat made the playoffs and 24.6 in 2007-2008, in a season where Wade’s playoff streak would come to an end.
Finally, after two injury plagued seasons, Wade would return at a level he hadn’t yet reached. In the 2008-2009 season he averaged 30.2 points on 49.1%. Wade also managed to do so without sacrificing his defence which we have seen so often from players with such a large offensive responsibility. Wade averaged 1.3 blocks and 2.2 steals for the season along with 7.5 assists and 5 rebounds. Wade finished in third for MVP voting, and arguably could have won over LeBron and Kobe who finished above him.
Despite having his best season, Wade and the Heat (really just Wade) fell in the first round to the Atlanta Hawks.
Wade dropped to 26 points the following season, but still managed to get a nameless Heat team to the playoffs, only to face Boston and lose 4-1 in the first round.
And then came LeBron James and Chris Bosh, where Dwayne Wade was ‘carried’ to his next championship. In their first season together, Wade would average 25.5 points on exactly 50% from the field. ‘Flash’ also went on to average 24.5 in the playoffs, leading the team before they were beaten in the finals by the Dallas Mavericks. We all know the story about LeBron, but Wade managed to rack up an average of 26.5 points and 7 rebounds for the series.
2011-2012 saw Wade hit the age of 30, but ‘Father Prime’ didn’t slow down much. He still managed to put up 22.1 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 1.9 steals for the Heat alongside LeBron and Bosh. Wade’s finals performance would be similar to his regular season stats, securing his second title with the help of LeBron and Bosh.
The Heat’s back to back performance was coupled with a very similar season from Wade, however, in the finals series against the San Antonio Spurs, Wade did drop to 19.6 points per game, but managed to maintain 1.9 steals along with 1.3 blocks.
Wade dropped to below 20 points per game (he averaged 19 on 54%) for the first time after winning his third championship and dropped to 15.2 points per game in the Heat’s 4-1 loss in the finals against the Spurs. ‘Father Prime’ was consistent for his last couple of seasons in Miami, averaging 21.5 an then 19 the following season. Both of which are fantastic averages for a player who was 33 during his 21.5 point season.
In the 2016-2017 season Dwayne Wade would return to his hometown of Chicago to play with the Bulls. Lots of people saw his season as a disappointment, but the 35-year-old was productive enough in his year in the Windy City. Wade averaged 18.3 points and 2.3 steals along with some incredibly vintage moments for his hometown.
Wade moved to the bench for his most recent season where he played for Cleveland before going back to Miami. He managed to put up 11.4 points at 36 years old.
It’s easy to look back at Wade’s numbers and appreciate them. Sure, he averaged good points for his career, (currently 31st in NBA all -time leaders) played great defence all of his career (35th in NBA steals leaders) and shot reasonably well for the vast majority too. But Dwayne Wade played in a very different way to a lot of other Hall of fame players we have had across the years.
Wade has been productive well into his 30s without developing a three-point shot, which is almost unheard of for a guard in the current NBA. With a smooth mid-range game and an uncanny ability to get to the hoop and finish tough layups, through to such an old age is something the league has very rarely seen. Wade never averaged more than 1.1 made three’s per game, which he only did once in his season as scoring champion. For his career, wade averages 1.6 attempts per game (heavily boosted by the two seasons he averaged 3.5 and 3.2 attempts) and only 0.5 three point makes per game. I repeat, almost unheard of (outside of Michael Jordan), in a player as consistently productive as Dwayne Wade was.
Perhaps one of the craftiest, most consistent and most successful players in NBA history, I look forward to seeing what Wade can pull out of his bag of tricks in his last season. And although it is his last, watching Wade trick, posterize and dance on defenders will never grow old.
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