Final All-star experience underway for Heat’s Wade
It began in Charlotte with a surprise dinner celebration, as Miami Heat star guard Dwyane Wade was honored Thursday night at the start of his final All-star weekend.
Fittingly, it was an allstar gathering. Among those joining Wade and his family, including wife Gabrielle Union, were Pat Riley, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Charles Barkley, Tim Hardaway, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Caron Butler, Donovan Mitchell, Grant Hill and ESPN’S Stephen A. Smith and Rachel Nichols. Heat television host Jason Jackson was on hand to emcee the evening.
“I’m looking around this room, I’ve got idols (here),” Wade said when he had a moment with the microphone, amid others making toasts to him and sharing their thoughts on his career. “I’ve got people who I’ve admired, people I look up to are in this room for me ... for me.
“Hopefully, I’ve inspired the next generation, because there’s so many people that have inspired me. There’s so many people that have helped pick me up when I’ve been down, so many people that have helped push me.”
Anthony and Paul presented Wade with a Hollywood star with his name on it for him to take home. The 8.2.0 Restaurant in Charlotte was decorated with images of Wade in past All-star jerseys and other iconic moments of his career.
The dinner was an appetizer for what will be a weekendlong celebration of Wade, as he plays in his 13th All-star Game on Sunday in Charlotte in his 16th and final season. Wade and Dallas Mavericks 21-year forward Dirk Nowitzki, also possibly retiring at season’s end, were named by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver as special roster additions for the All-star Game. Wade announced before the season began that this would be his last.
Wade and Nowitzki will enjoy an All-star weekend that will be largely centered around celebrating their careers after just facing off in Dallas on Wednesday night. The longtime archrivals, having met in two NBA Finals in 2006 and 2011 that the teams split, entered off the bench together in the middle of the first quarter Wednesday and had a few dueling moments, as Wade’s 22 points led Miami to a 112-101 victory.
“Obviously, me and him have had our fair share of All-star Games,” Wade said in Dallas. “This one coming is a lot different with what we’re looking to get out of it, but I know it will be moments in there where we will appreciate this opportunity to be there with the up-and-coming guys, with the stars in this league now.
“And to be able to take it all in for the last time. For me, it’ll be special that I get to do it with some of my kids and my loved ones, but also, with one of the game’s greats.”
After the two had moments of flashbacks to their prime in the game, they exchanged jerseys, as Wade has done with opponents throughout this “One Last Dance” tour. It was an iconic moment, setting aside differences and rivalries from the past.
While Wade previously said he didn’t care for a spot in the All-star Game if it meant snubbing another younger, deserving player, he felt the roster addition was the perfect idea.
“I’m just going to try to enjoy it. It’s going to be a different All-star (Game) than I’ve experienced,” Wade said. “I wish I was getting a little sun and a little tan, but besides from that, cool.”
“There was some rocky times in our relationship after ‘06 both ways,” Nowitzki said. “There was some stuff said that we both didn’t like, but at the end of the day, we are both competitors. You don’t love most of your competition, but we are in this together. We are all family and I’m happy for him. He had a heck of a career.
“I’ll cherish that jersey knowing the great competition we had for such a long time.”
Said Wade: “One of my best jersey swaps of the year. To be able to have that, he’s a Hall of Famer, somebody that I’ve grown to have a lot of respect for. So I was just thankful that he didn’t turn me down and say no.”
The Wade-nowitzki angle this year may even draw the eyes of those on Sunday that aren’t necessarily fans of the annual exhibition.
“It might even inspire me to actually watch the All-star Game this year,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Part of the reason why both Dirk and Dwyane have such a global following is, one, you have to have a Hall of Fame-talented career, you have to win. But they transcend that even more because they’ve done it with a humility, with a grace, with a dignity that fans worldwide relate to and end up rooting for guys like that.”
Wade will be teaming up with former Heat forward Lebron James, whom he reached four Finals and won two with, on Team Lebron on Sunday.