Dwyane Wade has played his final game in the NBA as the Miami Heat will not be in the 2019 postseason picture. Wade has often been dubbed as the third-best shooting guard of all time behind arguably the best player ever in Michael Jordan along with lifelong Laker, Kobe Bryant.
2006 NBA Finals: At Just 24 years old, Wade put the entire Miami Heat team on his back during the Finals series. He averaged 34.7 points per game during that series on a strong 46.8% shooting. To go with the points, Wade averaged 7.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.7 steals in the series. The most defining moments came when Miami was down 0-2 in the series to the Dallas Mavericks. Wade scored 12 points in the final seven minutes of game three to spark the series win. He was named the 2006 NBA Finals MVP.
Dunk on Anderson Varejao: One of Wade's most iconic moments in professional basketball was when he skied in for a dunk right over top of Cleveland Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao. The play came directly after one of Wade's closest friends LeBron James missed a dunk on the other end. Wade was awarded the foul following the basket and stepped over Varejao in a very Allen Iverson-like fashion. This play has been seen by millions and will be talked about forever.
Career-High 55 points: In a 2009 contest against the New York Knicks, Wade went 19-30 from the floor (63.3 percent) and scored a career-high 55 points, just off of the franchise-best at the time: 56 points by Glen Rice. Despite not owning the record for points in a game, Wade is Miami's all-time leader in the scoring department. On this night, Wade became the first player since Laker legend Kobe Bryant to score 50 points before the fourth quarter even began.
Return to Heat on Feb 9, 2018: After failing to come to terms on a fair contract extension, Wade shocked the Heat with his decision to join the Chicago Bulls in the 2016 offseason. The Cavaliers acquired Wade before the start of the 2017-18 season per request from his good friend LeBron James. The pairing, however, failed to work out and he was shipped back to Miami mid-season. He finished his first game back with the Heat on a 1-6 shooting line with just three points in Miami's 91-85 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. He still managed to manufacture a signature moment as he had a game-saving block with 31.7 seconds left in the game.
2019 game winner: A one-legged, off balance, off the backboard game-winning shot. Just like they drew it up. This one really put an exclamation point on a career full of big-time moments. The only thing sweeter than the shot itself was that it beat the defending champs. Watch.
