Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Last clash for Wade, Lebron
Heat-Lakers game likely to be last matchup between rivals, friends.
LOS ANGELES — The first of their 30 matchups came on Nov. 12, 2003, at AmericanAirlines Arena, in an 88-83 Miami Heat decision over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Dwyane Wade scored 14 points in the victory, LeBron James 16 in the loss.
The most recent of their matchups came March 27, also at AmericanAirlines Arena, in a 98-79 Heat victory, Wade with 12 points, James with 18.
And now, after 30 career meetings, equally split 15-15, comes the final chapter of a rivalry put aside during a four-year run to four consecutive NBA Finals from 2011 to 2014 and a pair of Heat championships in ’12 and ’13.
With this Wade’s “One Last Dance” and with the chance of a meeting in the playoffs as remote as Wade, at 36, changing his mind (the two have never met in the playoffs), Monday at 10:30 p.m. at Staples Center will be more about James continuing with a new challenge and Wade finishing up a familiar one.
“Obviously in the back of your mind you know one day the balls will stop bouncing for you,” Wade said of the emotion of the moment at hand. “But you don’t know how
or when or what.
“I’m three years older than him, so I always knew that my day would probably come before his.”
It is a moment that resonates with James, as well.
“It’s bitter and it’s sweet,” James said. “It’s sweet and it’s sour. The sweet part is that I’ve always loved being on the floor with my brother. We struck up a relationship together at the combine in 2003, and it started from there. And the sour part about it is that this is our last time sharing the same court.”
Wade’s dominance now coming in flashes compared to James’ remarkable consistency in season No. 16 for each, Wade said there is no surprise of where the two stand at this juncture.
“I always knew I didn’t want to just be around as long, into my 40s,” he said. “I just knew that wasn’t what I wanted to do. But you never know when it’s going to come.
“Even though it’s been a long career, it definitely still feels like yesterday, I remember getting drafted. But it’s here and you want to savor it and enjoy it.”
For as much as they savored together since being selected at the top of the 2003 NBA draft, James’ first NBA title in 2012 the validation of the Big Three convergence alongside Chris Bosh, it is the canyou-top this matchups between the two that offered some of the most scintillating theater.
There was a March 12, 2006, Heat loss in Miami when James scored 47, Wade 35.
Then, three weeks later, a Heat victory in Cleveland when James scored 47, Wade 44, the highest scoring game for each in the head-to-head series.
And on it went, a Heat victory March 3, 2009, in Cleveland, when James scored 42, Wade 41.
With Wade absent from the first of the Heat’s two meetings against the Lakers in the wake of the birth of his daughter, the two enter Monday with James averaging 28.5 points on .491 shooting, 7.3 assists and 5.6 rebounds in their 30 career meetings, with Wade at 25.8 points on .468 shooting, 5.8 assists and 4.9 rebounds. As has been part of their career arcs, James often was called on to do more, averaging 40.1 minutes to Wade’s 35.7 in the head-to-head games. All but two of the matchups came with Wade in a Heat uniform and James in Cavaliers colors. The exceptions were a pair of Chicago Bulls losses to the Cavaliers when Wade spent 2016-17 with his hometown team before spending the first half of last season as James’ teammate in Cleveland.
For all of the commemorative moments for Wade to this stage, jersey exchanges from veterans such as Vince Carter to neophytes such as Donovan Mitchell, Monday’s final buzzer will create a defining moment.
“Originally the jersey exchange was really just going to be with the Banana Boat crew,” Wade said of vacation partners such as James, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony. “I was going to, on the court, take photos and stuff. Originally, when I thought about my last year and what I wanted to do, I actually reached out to those guys like this is something I want us to do when we play each other. But then it’s something that just took on a life of its own with other players along the way.
“But it will be special to get this opportunity with that guy.”
After they first talk it through.
“We always have a little chatter. I love a little chatter back and forth,” Wade said, “but not trash talking, just chatter, basic chatter, especially because it will be our last time.”
There already has been a similar Staples Center moment for Wade, having taken time to savor his final game against Kobe Bryant.
“So having this opportunity with ’Bron, out of everybody in the NBA, he’s been the person I’ve loved playing against the most outside of Kobe,” Wade said. “Obviously, he’s also one of my good friends and the history we have as teammates, as well. It definitely means more than just the average last game versus a team or individual.”
The first encounter still echoes.
“We just bonded from the first time we spoke,” Wade said. “It happened so fast. We remember when we got drafted. It seems like yesterday. It comes fast.”
And now, about to be over.
“Sometimes it’s just chemistry. Sometimes you can’t even explain it,” James said.
As one plans to play on. “I mean I got to keep it going. I got to keep it going for the Class of ’03,” James said. “D-Wade has definitely had a hell of a season, hell of a career, first ballot Hall of Fame.”
As for how it plays out, Wade laughed when asked about missing James’ 51-point performance against the Heat earlier this season, with Wade away for paternity leave.
“I don’t know, maybe he would have had 55,” he said with a smile that figures to be ubiquitous Monday. “I’m not a defensive stopper nowadays.”
“So having this opportunity with ’Bron, out of everybody in the NBA, he’s been the person I’ve loved playing against the most outside of Kobe.” —Dwyane Wade on facing LeBron James and the Lakers on Monday