Dwyane Wade's final game in Dallas was certainly memorable.
- A game-high 22 points points off the bench
- A big win for the Miami Heat
- A jersey swap with fellow honorary All-Star Dirk Nowitzi
And yet despite all of that, perhaps the biggest takeaway from the game was what Wade had to say about Mavericks rookie Luka Doncic following the game.
"Write down what I am going to say," Wade began in his statements to the post-party press. "What Doncic does reminds me of LeBron James on how he is able to find shooters in the corner and complete passes when he is besieged."
Dwyane Wade on Luka: "quote me right where I say this – it’s LeBron James-like from the standpoint of how he’s able to rope that pass to shooters in corners, getting blitzed. There’s not many guys who can do that and put it right there. He does an amazing job of it."
— Tim Cato (@tim_cato) February 14, 2019
There's not many who knows James better than Dwyane Wade who of course partnered alongside James for four seasons in Miami, wnere along with Chris Bosh, they reached four straight Finals and delivered two championships to South Beach.
Wade continued to speak to the brilliance of Doncic's passing as it compares to James.
"There are not many players who can do that correctly, and he (Luka) is doing a fantastic job."
Doncic finished with nine assists, one shy of a triple-double as he also finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds. While Wade was certainly speaking to Doncic's innate ability to draw defenders and find shooters in ways that do not show up in the routine box score, it's worth pointing out that the rookie is averaging 5.6 assists per game, not far off the 5.9 assists per game that James averaged as a 19-year old rookie in 2003-04.
Luka finds Salah with the fancy pass! pic.twitter.com/3elQTfSGwI
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) February 14, 2019
Wade, James and Doncic will all be in Charlotte for All-Star weekend. Wade and James will be playing in the All-Star Game on Sunday while Doncic is participating in the Rising Stars Game on Friday and Skills Challenge on Saturday.
