It’s easy to forget Dwyane Wade was considered perhaps the best player in the NBA at one point. No, he doesn’t have an MVP award to his name, and two of his three titles came alongside the greatest player of his generation. But Flash was an electric scorer and underrated defender, particularly before a 2002 surgery to remove the meniscus in his left knee that ended up robbing him of his athleticism when his peers were in their late prime.
His body’s deterioration isn’t the only reason he’s slept on at this point. So rapidly has the NBA changed to the current pace and space jubilee, we’ve overlooked perhaps the last great scorer who somehow never scared anyone from beyond the arc. The Spurs rendered Wade nearly unplayable during stretches of the 2013 and 2014 NBA Finals because of his abysmal 3-point shooting. But DWade slashed for buckets like the all time greats who came before him, and there are a number of moments, not to mention three rings, that prove that fact. For those lifelong fans watching with friends, phone-less in their living rooms, or for OGs in the media, or the diehards arguing at the bar—where loudmouth trolls are asked to leave or forced out sporting racoon eyes—Wade truly was a magnificent sight to behold.
His Hall of Fame career is winding down and this, his 16th season, will be his last. So as a reminder for older fans, or a disclaimer for newer fans who only know of the hobbled, 3-point-averse LeBron sidekick, here are 16 amazing moments you may have forgotten about DWade before he hosts his pal one last time in Miami Sunday.