5 reasons Dwyane Wade is the greatest player in Miami Heat history

4. He made the Miami Heat relevant

The Miami Heat joined the NBA as an expansion franchise before the 1988-1989 season. Over the franchise’s first seven seasons, they never won above 42 games or made the second round of the playoffs. Pat Riley came to South Beach and become the Heat’s new president and coach before the 1994-1995 season. They won 61 games in his second season and began a streak of four straight Atlantic Division titles. Those Heat teams were talented and well balanced. Tim Hardaway made a couple of All-Star games and finished fourth in MVP voting in 1996-1997. Star center Alonzo Mourning won back to back Defensive Player of the Year awards. Jamal Mashburn averaged as much as 17.5 points per game for the Heat. But they could never make it to the top and the team was largely torn apart after the 2000-2001 season.

Eventually, the Heat earned the number six selection in the 2003 NBA draft. To the surprise of some, they selected shooting guard Dwyane Wade out of Marquette. Wade made an immediate impact, averaging 16.5 points per game as a rookie along the way to a unanimous First Team All-Rookie selection. The Heat overachieved in many people’s eyes when they won their first playoff series against the New Orleans Hornets. Over the off-season, the Heat made a bold trade for star center Shaquille O’Neal.

Superman and Flash team up

Shaq promised the city of Miami an NBA championship. The Heat immediately showed that that wasn’t an outrageous promise, as they finished with the East’s best record. Dwyane Wade broke out in his second season, averaging 24.1 points, 6.8 assists, and 5.2 rebounds per game on his way to his first All-Star nod. He raised his level of play in the playoffs, where the Heat made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Detroit Pistons in game seven. In season one of Shaq and Wade they made it farther than any Heat team had previously. But they were not satisfied.

Pat Riley took the coaching reigns back over from Stan Van Gundy during the 2005-2006 season. This proved to be wise, as the Heat blitzed the Eastern Conference and earned a Finals matchup against the Dallas Mavericks. Dwyane Wade was facing the biggest test of his career, and he aced it. He averaged 39.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, dominating the game on both ends. The third year pro did something Kobe Bryant never did and earned a Finals MVP nod over Shaquille O’Neal. In 2008, ESPN’s John Hollinger did a piece about the 50 greatest Finals performances ever and ranked Dwyane Wade’s 2006 performance as the single greatest of all time. Shaquille O’Neal promised the city of Miami an NBA championship, but Dwyane Wade was the one who really delivered it.