Dwyane Wade immortalized in Miami Heat jersey retirement
MANILA, Philippines — No one else will ever wear No. 3 for the Miami Heat again as Dwyane Wade's jersey was raised to the rafters of American Airlines Arena on Saturday (Sunday, Manila time).
Wade, the sixth player in Heat history to have his jersey retired, was honored during halftime of the matchup between the Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The newest addition to the rafters inside @AAarena!
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) February 23, 2020
?? @DwyaneWade pic.twitter.com/rfEp8GBIp6
In the ceremony, Wade ended his speech with a tribute to the late Kobe Bryant.
"Kobe said the most important thing is to try to inspire others so they can be great in whatever they choose to do. I hope I have inspired all of you."@DwyaneWade ended his jersey retirement ceremony with a tribute to Kobe ????? pic.twitter.com/Q4HuaQAhd1
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 23, 2020
"Kobe said the most important thing is to try to inspire others so they can be great in whatever they choose to do. I hope I have inspired all of you," Wade said.
Wade played 14 seasons with the Miami Heat, save for brief one-year stints with the Chicago Bulls and the Cavaliers in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, respectively.
The 38-year-old returned to Miami in his final playing year in 2018 and did a farewell tour before hanging up his jersey for good.
Wade was a three-time champion with the Heat, two of which he won with Chris Bosh and LeBron James in what was dubbed the "Big Three era" of the franchise.
The Heat had already retired Bosh's jersey last year.
Meanwhile, James offered Wade congratulations through a video before his ceremony took place.
This is a cant't miss: A few @DwyaneWade's former teammates had some amazing things to say to him ahead of his jersey retirement.#L3GACY | @Gatorade Zero pic.twitter.com/XILRPIiwh0
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) February 22, 2020
"My brother D-Wade, I just want to say congratulations to you man on getting your jersey retired," James said in a video.
"I mean, am I really sitting here congratulating you on something that we both knew was going to happen when we were sitting at pre-Draft in Chicago? I feel like as soon as the Miami Heat drafted you and said Dwyane Wade out of Marquette that the name and the jersey was going up in the rafters. I think it was inevitable," he added.
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