Top 10 shooting guards: Wade still reigns
MIAMI — And to think there was a time when the hope was that Harold Miner would emerge as the greatest shooting guard in Miami Heat history. Such was the optimism when Baby Jordan fell into their lap at the No. 12 pick in the 1992 NBA draft.
Instead, it was the consolation prize of the 2008 NBA draft — after LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh (and Darko Milicic) were off the board — that delivered salvation in the form of Dwyane Wade.
Debate, if you want, the best at each of the other starting positions over the Heat’s history, but the only debates at shooting guard start after the unquestioned leading man.
There is Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. — and then there is everybody else.
Throughout this 30th-anniversary season, the South Florida Sun Sentinel will look back at three decades of the Heat, at the men and the moments that have made this an exhausting, exhilarating and enduring ride.
Today we look at the franchise’s top 10 shooting guards over these past three decades.
10. Rex Chapman
Sometimes it’s about a single game and a single player and a singularly unlikely victory. The night was Feb. 23, 1996. The Heat were down to eight players, after Pat Riley had traded away most of the roster the previous night. To the rescue came Chapman, a journeyman at that stage of his career, stepping up with 39 points, shooting 9 of 10 on 3-pointers, in a stunning 113-104 victory over Michael Jordan’s Bulls, one of only 10 losses that season for Chicago.
9. Eddie House
Before 3-point shooting became the NBA’s ultimate scoring weapon, there was Eddie House, whose ability to sling the long ball made him not only a fan favorite but a favorite of Pat Riley’s daughter, Elisabeth Marie, who started the “Free Eddie House” movement that ultimately became a Tshirt of choice at AmericanAirlines Arena.
8. Jon Sundvold
At a time when the Heat lacked a player of star pedigree, Sundvold at least gave the team a place at All-Star Weekend during the team’s first two seasons, selected to compete in the 3-point shootout during the 1989 and 1990 All-Star weekends. A selection in the 1988 expansion draft, Sundvold led the NBA in 3-point percentage in 1988-89. A neck injury ended his NBA career in 1991-92 after three appearances with the Heat that season.
7. Brian Shaw
From a basketball perspective, he was part of position-less approach well before Erik Spoelstra’s arrival, sharing the backcourt with fellow combo guard Steve Smith. From an off-thecourt perspective, the fame was greater during his Heat career as the player who dated Madonna. That also was the period when Shaw converted a then-NBA record 10 3-pointers for the Heat on April 8, 1993 in Milwaukee.
6. Voshon Lenard
Best remembered for the bellowing call of “Len-aard!” from Heat television analyst Dr. Jack Ramsay, Lenard was a lock-andlaunch 3-point specialist who started 47 games for the 1996-97 Heat team that won a franchiserecord 61 games. He then would go on to start 81 games the next season before ultimately settling into a dynamic sixth-man role.
5. Kevin Edwards
For the most part, the Heat’s history at shooting guard can be broken down into three eras: Kevin Edwards at the start, Eddie Jones in the middle and then Dwyane Wade for his 13-year championship run (with others mixed in along the way). For the franchise’s first five seasons, Edwards was a reliable presence when stability was at a premium, averaging in double-figure scoring in each of those five seasons.
4. Ray Allen
The Heat tenure was only two seasons, but one moment in time arguably could have him even higher on this list, because no moment in franchise history was as meaningful. Down three with time running out in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals, security officials already were ringing the court at AmericanAirlines Arena for a Spurs championship celebration. And then, from the right corner — bang! Tie game. Heat win that night in overtime and the championship the next game.
3. Dan Majerle
As a shooting guard and small forward, as a starter and reserve, Majerle’s hustle defined the Heat’s big-muscle playoff era under Pat Riley from 1996 to 2001. Even while battling debilitating back pain, he was an essential plug-and-play component to the rosters that first defined Heat culture. And to think he arrived as the consolation prize when the Heat were unable to sign Juwan Howard during the 1996 offseason.
2. Eddie Jones
If the resume ended with serving as Dwyane Wade’s initial NBA mentor, it would be enough. But it was far more than that. It was helping keep the Heat afloat from the end of the Tim HardawayAlonzo Mourning to the start of the Wade era. The Pompano Beach Ely High product led the Heat in scoring for four consecutive seasons, from 2001 to 2004, the franchise’s longest such run until Wade’s arrival.
1. Dwyane Wade
The. Greatest. Player. In. Franchise. History. Five NBA Finals. Three NBA championships. The lure that delivered LeBron James and Chris Bosh. He stepped forward when needed as a leading man. He stepped to the side when Shaquille O’Neal and James arrived. Eventually his No. 3 will be retired and then likely a statue erected at 601 Biscayne.