Dwyane Wade spends Heat shootaround with Giannis and Spoelstra calls him ‘a great sounding board’ for a team that started 2-5

Dwyane Wade spent Wednesday morning with the Miami Heat, and the team he has been picking apart on his podcast all week did not push him away. The Heat’s all-time great, along with Udonis Haslem and Justise Winslow, watched shootaround at UCLA before Miami’s game at the Clippers, then sat down with coach Erik Spoelstra and new star Giannis Antetokounmpo. Spoelstra called Wade “a great sounding board, particularly where we are right now.” The Heat, 2-5 at that point, won that night 117-116 in overtime, but the conversation is the part that explains where this team is.

What Spoelstra said about Wade

Spoelstra was open about how much the visit meant to him. “It’s always great to have him around us. I love him dearly,” he said. “The experiences that he’s gone through, he has a great way of communicating it, even to this old head coach. He kept perspective for me. Even a moment like this where he’s able to spend some time with Giannis, I think is invaluable.”

He also described the relationship as a friendship, not a coach-player one: “It’s all love now… We can text each other during the season and it feels like we’re in the same city.” Wade had also been at the Heat’s Oct. 26 home loss to Dallas, and Spoelstra said he spent time with him afterward.

Giannis 🤝 D-Wade pic.twitter.com/Wdcb9KfS1k

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) November 4, 2026

The 2011 comparison

Spoelstra said before the game that one of the things Wade talked about was the Heat’s own difficult start in 2011, when LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Wade. That team started 9-8. Spoelstra said it was a really good defensive team that had to make big changes on offense.

He said so himself before tip-off: “There are many different chapters during the season. Clearly, we have to make some adjustments right now. We can’t wait, so I’m not waiting. I’ve done that at any month during the season with previous teams.”

What Wade has been saying on his podcast

The warm reception stands out because of how blunt Wade has been. After sitting courtside for the Dallas loss, he said on his podcast that he “pretty much should have” had his notebook out, and that the Heat “don’t have anything to hang their hat on right now.” His main point was about Bam Adebayo and Giannis occupying the same spot on the floor.

“Giannis is a guy who’s going to have that ball in his hands,” Wade said. “Giannis and Bam are playing the same positions, really… So now Bam is on the outskirts.” He said Adebayo got no pick-and-roll lobs and no post touches in the game he saw, and that “you can’t be pushed out of the offense” because “your defensive game goes as your offensive game goes.” His fix: “He’s got to be the No. 1 option with the second unit guys.”

The numbers behind the complaint were not good. Through the first seven games Adebayo was averaging 16.3 points on 49.4 percent shooting, against 20.1 points a game last season, and he had made 4 of 23 threes. Miami had also been outscored by 5.6 points per 100 possessions when Adebayo played without Antetokounmpo.

What happened that night

The Heat trailed the Clippers by 20 in the first half and by 10 with about four and a half minutes left, and Adebayo finished with season highs of 35 points and 10 rebounds. Antetokounmpo added 27 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, and Klay Thompson hit the winning three with one second left in overtime. Our game story has the full comeback.

It is one win, and the Heat are 3-5 after losing 138-117 at the Lakers on Monday. But Wade’s argument was that this group has not been through enough uncomfortable moments to know who it is, and Wednesday gave them one. Miami finishes the back-to-back at Golden State on Thursday night, tipping at 5 a.m. Cairo time on Friday.