Wade Delivers on Others' Promises

It wasn't Dwyane Wade who said he envisioned a parade down Biscayne Boulevard back in 1995, when he was hired to bring a championship to Miami.

That was Pat Riley's pseudo pledge.

It wasn't Wade who stood in front of AmericanAirlines Arena upon his arrival in 2004, when he promised the considerable gathering of fans that he would bring a title to Miami.

That was Shaquille O'Neal's guarantee.

Yet there was Wade, scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter and bringing his team back from 13 down to help deliver on those promises.

There was Wade, scoring 43 points, his best playoff game ever -- including the last two nerve-wracking free throws with 1.9 seconds on the clock -- to help deliver on those promises.

There was Wade, scoring 36 more in the final game of the season, including four more huge free throws, to help deliver on those promises.

And there was Wade, accepting the NBA Finals MVP trophy in the center of the American Airlines Center floor, after he delivered on those promises.

It wasn't Wade who was supposed to be the main reason the Heat is a championship franchise. Not in 1995, and not in 2004.

But now that Wade has done it, the 6-4 guard in just his third year in the NBA has catapulted himself from a rising superstar to a still-dribbling legend. His 34.7-point scoring average in the Finals was more than even Michael Jordan in his first trip to the championship round -- and those comparisons were being tossed around even before Wade completed his magical run to a title.

And now it's Wade that has people believing that the promise of another championship is very much a possibility.

''He just took it to another level,'' Riley said of Wade. ``You all witnessed it. You all watched it. Players like that are very hard to come by, and to watch them grow right in front of you, you know, he's making his legacy in his third year. So, I mean, we are so blessed to have him.''

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