Dwyane Wade stands as the greatest player in Miami Heat history, honored with a statue outside the arena. LeBron James led the Heat to two championships as the top player on two title teams. Multiple franchise legends contributed success, including Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Bosh, Tim Hardaway, and Udonis Haslem. Jimmy Butler delivered transformative play in his near six-year Miami tenure and ranks among the franchise's top three performers. Butler produced elite playoff numbers, including a 56-point game and leading seeds to the Finals. Bam Adebayo, Goran Dragic, and Tyler Herro provided key supporting roles during his runs.
When fans think back on Miami Heat Mount Rushmore, there's no debate that Dwyane Wade leads that discussion. He is undoubtedly the greatest player in franchise history, and had a statue put up outside the arena this past season to justify that notion even more. But who is behind him? LeBron James helped lead the Heat to the mountain top twice as the best player on two of the franchise's three championship teams.
Despite Jimmy Butler's messy trade departure out of South Beach, enough time has passed to move on from the in-the-moment type of feelings regarding his status amongst Heat legends. And there should be no question that Butler is a top-three player in franchise history. No matter how ugly the ending was, Butler elevated Miami to heights that they haven't seen since Wade and James shared the court together over a decade ago. His resume does the speaking for itself.
Collection
[
|
...
]