The Miami Heat will head on the road to take on the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night in what would normally be an uneventful game between a bottom-tier Eastern Conference playoff team and a squad fighting for draft positioning.
However, this contest will hold a bit more meaning than usual, as it will be Dwyane Wade's last game in his hometown of Chicago.
Bulls big man Robin Lopez thinks Wade is going to get a big ovation from the United Center crowd:
“I think he's going to get a great one,” said Lopez, according to Cody Westerlund of theScore. “He deserves it. He deserves a loud, raucous ovation.”
Lopez was a teammate of Wade's during the 2016-17 campaign, when Wade spent one year with the Bulls.
Whether that will lead to a standing ovation for Wade is anybody's guess, but outside of that one season, Wade was an enemy of Chicago fans for a solid chunk of his career, primarily during the Heat's “Big Three” days with Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh, as the Heat defeated the Bulls in the playoffs twice during a four-year span.
In his lone season in the Windy City, Wade averaged 18.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.4 steals over 29.9 minutes per game while shooting 43.4 percent from the floor, 31 percent from three-point range and 79.4 percent from the free-throw line.
Prior to that year, Wade had made 12 consecutive All-Star teams as a member of the Heat. He has not made it to the All-Star Game since.
Wade spent half of a season with the Cleveland Cavaliers last year before returning to Miami at the trade deadline last February.
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