Dwyane Wade has sprinkled moments of magic at the American Airlines Arena throughout this #onelastdance through his final NBA season before calling it a career. His Miami Heat teammates have been conscious of that fact and urged Wade to bless the home crowd with more memorable moments to further cement his legacy in South Beach, yet Wade has managed to beautiful orchestrate a balancing act of mentor and entertainer — relishing the times the ball is in his hands and also seeking out a way to get the future cogs involved.
Young wing Rodney McGruder found himself a fan of Wade's during a Saturday night staple win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
“Give it to Dwyane! Give it to Dwyane!” he later said he shouted, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Dwyane Wade had just made a key basket to give the Heat a chance to win, but needed another to put Miami on top. Instead, the shot went to Josh Richardson, the three-and-D prospect the Heat are hopeful will take the role as the team's main scorer.
Richardson missed a 21-footer, but the Heat managed to get a stop, finding Wade in the closing moments to give the Heat a lead, one they would keep until the end of regulation.
“For me, it's just that,” he said, with the Heat next turning their attention to Wednesday night's visit by the Toronto Raptors to AmericanAirlines Arena at the start of a three-game homestand. “It's understanding that I want other guys to be in those positions. And I want them to succeed, obviously, but you grow in failure, as well, in those moments.
“So I don't do what I used to do, which was always go get it in those moments. I don't.”
Wade is masterfully walking the line between doing right by the fans and steering the organization to a new line of players that will take over the mantle, doing so in ways most stars of his caliber have find it tough to do at the end of their careers.
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