The Miami Dolphins have slowly and surely seen their grip on the South Florida region fall by the wayside. The Dolphins have struggled to stay afloat over the past two decades — an ugly stretch for a long-time staple in the NFL’s postseason action. The team’s inability to avoid mediocrity has had a number of consequences, including the team falling behind the city’s NBA franchise, the Miami Heat, for adoration from fans.
The Miami Heat have risen to prominence in the Dolphins’ two sour decades of play — compare the Heat’s 14 winning seasons and three NBA Championships to the Dolphins’ 7 winning seasons and 1 playoff win since 2000 and it is easy to see why. What’s worse? Five of the Dolphins’ seven winning seasons came before 2006 — the team has just 2008 and 2016 as years with a winning record over the last 14 years.
It’s hard to blame the fans for gravitating towards success.
But that doesn’t mean the fans won’t come back if and when the Dolphins right the ship. That’s not some bold proclamation, either — those are the words straight from Miami’s most beloved basketball star, Dwayne Wade. Wade arrived in Miami in 2003 and quickly captured the hearts of the South Florida sports community with his elite play; if anyone knows how to win the hearts of Miami sports fans, it is Wade.
So when Wade spoke with ESPN’s Cameron Wolfe to discuss Tua Tagovailoa’s ability to fill the void as the next South Florida sports superstar, Wade’s words spoke all that much louder.
“If the Dolphins get it going, it’s going to be Dolphins town. We did as much to make it a basketball town as possible, and Miami Heat is there to stay. But let’s not get it twisted. Florida is football. Once they get their (expletive) together, they are going to be big and bigger,” said Wade.
“But those Heat guys — Bam (Adebayo), Tyler Herro — are going to battle him for it. (Tua)’s got to earn it … how you put yourself in that conversation is doing something great, something that people have never seen before, and obviously winning.”
After the last two decades, such a sight might be hard to envision. But if Wade, as one of the primary architects of the last South Florida hype machine, can envision it; who are we to argue? Here’s hoping Tagovailoa and the Dolphins can gel as quickly as Wade did with the Heat; Wade’s team went 42-40 as a rookie before jumping to 59-23 in his second year.
Wade’s third season? The team won the NBA Championship.