Dwyane Wade’s five greatest moments for the Miami Heat

As he prepares to face his former team this Thursday, let’s take a look at the five greatest moments that Dwyane Wade had with the Miami Heat.

As many people may or may not know, Miami, Florida is located in the Miami-Dade county of the state. For the past 13 years, it was also known as “Wade County” due to the presence of superstar Dwyane Wade.

Wade is arguably the greatest athlete in Miami sports history, and for good reason. He is responsible for the Miami Heat celebrating an NBA championship three times and holds various franchise records. Wade is easily a future Hall of Famer and arguably a top-50 player of all time. This is why it must be painful for Miami fans to watch him playing in a Chicago Bulls uniform this year.

Wade will make his return to Miami as a visitor for the first time in his career this Thursday. Despite him wearing the jersey of that night’s enemy, it’s safe to say that he should receive a huge ovation upon arrival. His contract issues with the front office weren’t venomous enough to warrant Heat fans feeling betrayed. Wade provided too many memorable moments for them. With that being said, let’s take a look at his five greatest moments that D-Wade had with the Miami Heat.

5. Wade hits game-winning jumper in his playoff debut

Before his infamous alignment with LeBron James and Chris Bosh in 2010, Dwyane Wade began his playoff heroics as a rookie in the 2004 NBA Playoffs. His road to the postseason was a bumpy one as the Heat stumbled out of the gate with a 5-15 record. However, after a late-season surge, they qualified for the playoffs with a 42-40 record. As a result, they drew the New Orleans Hornets in the first round. It was supposed to be a pretty even matchup since they were the fourth and fifth seeds in the Eastern Conference.

Wade wasted no time in showing us what to expect for the majority of his career. In his first playoff game ever, he scored 21 points with five rebounds and five assists. During the fourth quarter, he led Miami to a 77-65 lead with 7:26 to play. However, the Heat’s flame was temporarily extinguished and the Hornets tied the game at 79-79 with less than a minute remaining. D-Wade, with ice water in his veins and Jamaal Magloire in his face, ends up hitting the game-winning jumper with 1.3 seconds left. It would be the last bucket made in the contest as the Heat won 81-79. They went on to eliminate the Hornets in seven games and advanced to square off against the top seed Indiana Pacers. Unfortunately, Miami was ousted by the Pacers in the following round.

Although he didn’t advance past the Eastern Conference semifinals that year, Wade proved that he was easily one of the top rookies not named LeBron or Carmelo Anthony. It was only the beginning of more amazing things to come for the former Marquette standout.