Happy Birthday, D-Wade: 5 times Flash left us speechless
Dwyane Wade turns 35 today, and instead of birthday cake, we made him a top-five list.
Even though Wade has found himself on the Chicago Bulls this season, he will always be a member of the Miami Heat at heart, and those ties are evident in the list of his all-time career plays.
Here are 5 instances when the 12-time All-Star left us in awe.
Turning defense into offense real quick
A play that epitomizes the career of Dwyane Wade.
Amar'e Stoudemire lumbers down the lane for an easy layup (or so he thinks) to end the third - but Wade had a different plan. With the presence of mind to come over to block the shot, then turn down court and heave a 60-footer to end the third quarter, the Flash saves two points, and gets three instead.
A sequence so nice even Andre Agassi was out of his seat.
Making a victim out of Kendrick Perkins
Against a lineup featuring: Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook, Wade decided to set his sights on Kendrick Perkins.
After receiving the ball on the sideline, the former Heat guard rejects the pick, shakes off Harden, spins past three-time All-Defensive First Team member, Ibaka, and rises up over top of Perkins for what is one of the most disrespectful dunks you'll ever see.
Kudos to Perkins for trying to defend, but he never could break the habit of being on the wrong side of poster dunks.
Snatching the game from the Bulls
John Salmons drove with the intention of scoring on a favorable matchup against Udonis Haslem to win the game, but Wade didn't see it going down like that.
Already in double-overtime, with the game knotted up at 127, Wade comes over to steal the ball straight out of Salmons' mitts, take it the other way, and nail a running 3-pointer off one foot to seal the game for the Heat.
There seems to be a recurring theme of Wade making an impressive defensive play at one end, and scoring spectacularly on the other.
Serving Shaq the alley-oop
The result and subsequent reaction of this play might be just as impressive as the lead-up.
Dribbling the ball around opponents' backs, regaining possession, and throwing half-court alley-oops to onrushing 350-pound big men are just some of the things Dwyane Wade does well. Shaq's reaction after the and-1 is still one of the best things you'll see.
Ending Varejao's career with one dunk
Reggie Miller couldn't have put it much better: "Welcome to your Kodak moment, Anderson Varejao!"
Is there really anything that needs to be said about this dunk? It is easily one of the most vicious, ferocious, and brutalizing slam dunks of, not only Wade's career, but all time in the NBA.
After the dunk, Wade even blessed us with a throwback to Allen Iverson stepping over Tyronn Lue during the 2001 NBA Finals.