For the first time in his career, Dwyane Wade played mostly a bench role since the start of the 2017-18 season. Now that he is back with the Miami Heat, the biggest difference between his first and his current stint with the team is his role, as Wade will continue coming off the bench under head coach Erik Spoelstra. During his previous 13-year tenure with the Heat, Wade came off the bench on only 10 occasions, five of which came in his rookie season.
Before his second game back in South Beach, Wade spoke about his new bench role with the Heat. According to Barry Jackson from Miami Herald, the three-time NBA champion said:
“It really doesn’t matter to me. I’m not concerned with any of that. I’m just concerned with helping this team be a better team, get wins. I’m trying to get familiar with everything, trying to get in better shape with this team and with the stuff that they run. So I’m not really concerned with night to night what it would be.”
Wade also outlined the difference in a coach's expectations when he starts and when he comes off the bench:
“Starting you got to know this is what they expect of me. Coming off the bench it definitely varies. Depending on if I’m coming off the bench and I’m handling it, if I’m coming off the bench and I’m at the two, whatever the case may be, you never know what it is.”
On the latter stages of his career, the 12-time All-Star spoke about embracing this new role to try and be as helpful as he can. “I definitely embraced that [bench] role when I went to Cleveland. I felt it was individually the best role for me to play.” He also added he feels comfortable playing backup point guard in addition to his natural shooting guard position.
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