Video: Old-school Dwyane Wade surfaces in savage chase-down block
By Kareem Gantt
Dwyane Wade showed the Charlotte Hornets fans that he can still chase down a block.
If you thought that Dwyane Wade couldn’t do chase-down blocks anymore, then you should ask the Charlotte Hornets.
On Monday night, in the same arena where he blocked Kemba Walker’s layup to secure a Game 6 win in last year’s playoffs, Wade achieved that feat yet again. This time Marvin Williams was his untimely victim.
Midway through the second quarter, Williams took a pass from Marco Belinelli, and after a sweet move to skirt his way around the outstretched arm of Denzel Valentine, it looked like he was flying in for two points.
But out of nowhere, much like a Carolina snow storm, Wade came in and swatted the ball right out of Williams’ hands. To add insult to insult, the ball would bounce off Charlotte, giving the Bulls possession.
It was like watching the old Wade in action yet again, except he was wearing a Bulls jersey and not the red and white trim of the Miami Heat. It was in that jersey where Wade also drank from the Fountain of Youth and delivered a savage block on the Hornets in front of their home fans.
Back in Game 6 of the 2016 NBA Playoffs, with the Heat trailing 3-2 and desperately in need of a win in a venue where they had dropped two straight, Wade dipped into his reserve and delivered a virtuoso performance that would bring the Heat back from the jaws of elimination.
It was his savage block on Walker that would seal the win for the Heat, who would go on to demolish the Hornets in Game 7 back in Miami. The block on Williams on Monday night felt a lot like that epic Game 6, with the Bulls reeling from a five-game losing streak and losing their firm grip on the eighth and final playoff spot.
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But like he did for Miami in Game 6, Wade flew in like Superman and (temporarily) saved the day for the struggling Bulls.