On Saturday night, Dwyane Wade found himself in elite company as he has so many times throughout his illustrious 12-year career. With his 27 points against the Philadelphia 76ers, Wade passed both Dale Ellis and Reggie Theus to go up to 49th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. He usurped Theus with a free throw at the 5:04 mark in the fourth quarter.
“He [Wade] was great. When we couldn’t generate the normal type of offense we were accustomed to, Dwyane did what he has built his career on. He just made great plays, put the ball in the basket and was keeping us alive,” Erik Spoelstra said after the game. “He had a spring in his step. I noticed it today when I walked into the shootaround. I knew he wanted to find some kind of rhythm.”
Thanks to that rhythm, Wade was able to enter the Top 50 in scoring. When you take a look at the point totals ahead of him, you definitely notice that Wade has a chance to move up even further in the rankings. He should pass former Pistons great Bob Lanier (19,248) within the next few weeks, and ultimately Jazz legend John Stockton (19,711) by season’s end. If that indeed does happen, Wade would catapult to number 41 behind Antawn Jamison (20,042).
As it stands on November 22, Wade has scored 19,017 points for his career. His highest point total in a single season came in 2008-09 when he scored 2,386 points in an MVP-caliber campaign. In all, Wade has reached the 2,000-point mark in a season three times.
“I don’t think about it, but I’m aware of it because I’ve been able to do a couple of interviews after the game and they tell me,” Wade said about passing Ellis and Theus. “But, like I said, when you’re in the middle of playing, there’s certain moments when I passed Isiah [Thomas] or passed Scottie [Pippen], those were kind of ‘pinch me’ moments for me being a kid, growing up watching those guys and being big fans of them, but I don’t number watch at all. When it’s all said and done, my body of work will be my body of work.”
Check out Wade’s highlights against the 76ers