Last season, it was the Miami Heat finishing seventh in the Eastern Conference at a piddling 44-38, winding up with a No. 8 seed, and then advancing to the NBA Finals.

One county to the north, it was the Florida Panthers finishing with 42 victories and 40 losses (when including overtime losses), being the last of the eight teams in their conference to qualify for the postseason, and then making it to the Stanley Cup Final.

And now, the Arizona Diamondbacks, after an 84-78 regular season, are playing in the Major League Baseball’s National League Championship Series.

In each case, a study of regular-season mediocrity followed by momentum when needed most.

Wednesday night, the 82-game grind starts for the Heat against the Detroit Pistons at Kaseya Center.

Last season, it began with an opening-night loss to the Chicago Bulls, the first of three losses for Erik Spoelstra’s team over the opening week. One month in, the Heat were 7-11. A month after that, the Heat were in 10th place.

And six months after that … in the NBA Finals against the Denver Nuggets.

Against that backdrop, the challenge is to project meaning to what starts in late October and meanders for six months, with 10 of the 15 teams in the conference to play on after the regular season.

And then there is Spoelstra, who seemingly knows only one way, even if it means pushing neophytes bound for the G League through the preseason, even if it means trying to make something out of exhibitions that leading man Jimmy Butler couldn’t make time for.

So in a private moment, after the team’s practice court hard alongside Biscayne Bay had cleared last week, Spoelstra let it be known exactly what he thinks of such thought.

“The regular season does matter,” he said, almost as if insulted by innuendo, “and we’re going to approach it with intent this year, as we did last year.”

Say what you want about the team’s pithy mottos, insistence that Culture be spelled with a capital C, but this was not Spoelstra playing to cameras or advancing some team marketing campaign.

In this case, what others think doesn’t matter.

Because he insists the regular season did matter for the Heat in 2022-23, even if the record did not indicate such.

“I think we did a lot of things during the regular season, our approach, to compete every single night, develop the kind of habits that translate into the playoffs,”  he said during the one-on-one interview. “And the adversity that we dealt with, without caving into it and turning into a lottery team because of the injuries, we approached every game to win.

“I think when you have that kind of mentality, it gives you the right mindset and approach for the playoffs. We had to deal with a lot of unpredictable things during the playoffs, and we had some really good habit-developing things, even through the injuries and losses last year, that I saw carried over to that second season.”

Yes, there is perspective. Yes, being right and ready — and healthy — for the playoffs is paramount. But Spoelstra stressed he does not view it as mutually exclusive.

“That’s not either or,” he said. “A lot of things can be true. We’re trying to win as many games as we can.”

So the plan is to play his players as required, as needed, but also be prudent.

“Guys were not missing games because of load management,” he said of last season. “I think that’s where it gets a little bit confusing. How we operate, for better or worse, is not necessarily what you’re seeing across the league, and that’s not an indictment on how other teams are doing it. Everybody has their own philosophy and that’s what makes the league good, is you can do things a lot of different ways. We had injuries last year. We’ll see. Hopefully we don’t have as many this year.”

So yes, Spoelstra said, Wednesday matters. As does the three-game trip that follows. As do the weeks and months before the April 14 regular-season finale against the visiting Toronto Raptors.

“We’re going to approach this regular season with intent to win games,” he said, “and also build the right habits and ideally improve, where we’re a much better team by the end of the year, which was the case last year.”

IN THE LANE

INSIDE GAME: Count former Golden State Warriors General Manager Bob Myers, the former player agent who now is working as an ESPN analyst, among those who see the Heat in a distant set of secondary contenders in the East behind the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks. “In the East,” Myers said on a conference call, “I do think there’s two teams that are in a tier by themselves and that;s Milwaukee and Boston. Personally, if you made me choose, I would put Boston ahead right now of Milwaukee. But after that, I think there’s some separation. And then it gets into some of the other teams. I think Cleveland is probably, I think, will take a step. Certainly, Philly with the MVP (Joel Embiid). Miami, I guess you can never count them out even though they didn’t have a great regular season last year, we saw what they did in the playoffs.”

HEATED PERSPECTIVE: Like Myers, Doc Rivers, who is making the shift from coaching to ESPN analyst, said the Heat are somewhat on the outside in the East, while never being out of the picture. “Every year the Heat’s championship window has closed. Every single year we say that, and then here they are back,” Rivers said on a conference call. “Listen, their culture beats people, beats teams a lot. Do I think they need another guy to get over the hump? Yeah, I do. I think they have enough to make a run, but do they have enough to win it? I think they need another player, another closer per se. It doesn’t have to be Lillard. There are other guys available. But you know, Dame would have been a perfect fit because Dame is serious about basketball and his conditioning. He would have been an easy culture guy to add in to the Heat.”

SECONDARY MARKET: With Lillard off to the Milwaukee Bucks, Rivers said he expects Heat President Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra to continue scouring the league. “My guess is Pat Riley and Erik, they’re out looking to see what’s another way that they can improve their team,” Rivers continued. “The good thing about Miami from what I know, players don’t really complain about going and living in Miami, so that part of it they have. They don’t complain about the taxes in Florida. That part they have, as well. So, the next part will be can they fit in and can they acquire them because you have to give up something to get something, and that’s the problem right there for them. Tyler Herro has to be huge for them for them to make a run. He has to make that next step. Remember Riley challenged him last year to make the step? Now he has to make a bigger one, and it’s going to be big for them.”

APPRECIATION OFFERED: Even with his four championships with the Warriors, Andre Iguodala, upon formally announcing his retirement this past week, noted the meaning of his trip to the 2020 NBA Finals with the Heat. “That was a huge moment for me, that goes up there in terms of one of my greatest accomplishments, just because I learned something from that culture,” he told ESPN’s Andscape. “I’ll take a lot of that culture with me wherever I go, whether it’s on the court, off the court. I was very grateful to experience playing down in Miami.” With Iguodala, 39, out of the league at the same time former Heat captain Udonis Haslem has stepped aside after his 20th season, it leaves LeBron James (19th season) with the most active years in the league, followed by Chris Paul (19) and then Heat point guard Kyle Lowry (18).

NUMBER

12. Games in their first 17 of the regular season the Heat will play on the road, with Wednesday night’s season opener at Kaseya Center against the Detroit Pistons to be followed by a three-game trip against the Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves and Milwaukee Bucks.

Monday, he upped the ante, showing up with what he called his “emo” look, with straightened hair, pierced lips, nose and eyebrow and black nail polish.

The dreadlocks last year proved to be short lived, with Butler seemingly more intent last season in forcing the NBA’s hand, since the league uses media day photos throughout the season on promotional material.

This time, Butler said he is unsure what the approach will be going forward, leaving the door open for an extended run with the look.

“I might. You know what I might,” he said of carrying the approach onto the court. “I feel like I’m very emotional right now. This is my emo state, and I like this. This is me. This is how I’m feeling as of late.”

Asked if there was a specific reasoning behind the look, he said: “You never know how I’m going to wake up. This is how I feel today. We’ll see tomorrow. Tomorrow might be in all yellow.”

Of the move toward the goth look, at least for a day, he said, “I like it when we get to our black jerseys, because I’m supposed to be in all black.”

The look stunned teammate Bam Adebayo.

“Ain’t no way that’s him,” Adebayo said.

Adebayo added with a laugh, “What is wrong with him? That’s not real. He’s just misunderstood.”

And, Adebayo said, so be it.

“If this is a phase he’s going through at 34,” he said, “I guess you’ve got to let him go through his phases.”

At least for a day.

“He told me that’s his Halloween, today.” teammate Tyler Herro said of the annual media day.

As for falling short in last season’s NBA Finals, Butler said, “This is our year. This is the one. And this one’s going to feel real good, by the way.”

So, yes, even with his look, basketball first.

“It’s always been about a championship to me,” he said. “It will always be about that.”

Forward thinking

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra refused to cast the NBA offseason as putting his team at a net loss, even with the Milwaukee Bucks adding Damian Lillard and the Boston Celtics adding Jrue Holiday.

“You just want to come into camp having a team that you know is going to be one of those teams competing for the title, and we have one of those teams right now,” he said Monday, before his players spoke. “I like our group. There’s a lot to like about this group. And I understand the fandom and the buzz and everything — everybody wants change after every single year.

“You don’t know if those changes will lead to anything on those other teams. But we like our group.”

Captain gone

Spoelstra noted the uniqueness of  the Heat opening camp for the first time in 20 seasons without retired team captain Udonis Haslem.

“That’ll be an adjustment for sure,” he said, “probably more so for me than anybody else in the locker room.” …

Of adding former Heat guard Wayne Ellington as an assistant coach, Spoelstra said, “He’s a perfect fit.” …

Similarly, of Josh Richardson’s return to the team’s perimeter rotation, Spoelstra said, “He just fit right back into the culture and the work and all that.” …

Of Nikola Jovic’s offseason at the World Cup with Serbia, Spoelstra said, “You could see why he was such a promising prospect.” …

Adebayo indicated he plans to return to USA Basketball for next summer’s Paris Olympics after helping lead Team USA to gold in the 2021 Tokyo Games. …

Spoelstra is poised to assist Golden State coach Steve Kerr in Paris, as he did in the recently completed World Cup in the Philippines. “I want to maximize as many of these experiences as I possibly can,” Spoelstra said.

In a series of minor moves, the Heat added former Orlando Magic guard R.J. Hampton, who was waived in February, on a two-way contract and power forward Cheick Diallo on a camp tryout deal.

In order to facilitate those moves, the Heat waived guard Jamaree Bouyea from his two-way contact, parted with summer-league hopeful Caleb Daniels, and signed and released guard Jon Elmore as a means of keeping him in the realm of their G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

The most significant of the transactions was moving off of Bouyea, who had four appearances with the Heat last season, and instead utilizing that two-way contract on Hampton.

Bouyea, who went undrafted out of the University of San Francisco in 2022, had been with the Heat in summer league the past two years, as well as with the Skyforce last season. His NBA experience, however, was limited to five NBA appearances, four last season with the Heat and one with the Washington Wizards.

Hampton, 22, selected at No. 24 in the 2020 draft, by contrast, has 162 games of NBA experience over the past three seasons, with the Denver Nuggets, Magic and Detroit Pistons.

Hampton was waived by the Pistons in June.

The Heat now appear poised to enter camp with Kyle Lowry, Dru Smith and Hampton as their options at point guard, with the latter two on two-way contracts.

While the Heat are at the NBA maximum of 21 players under contract for camp, which opens Tuesday in Boca Raton at FAU, players can be shuffled on and off of rosters through the preseason. Among unsigned options at point guard are former Heat players Goran Dragic and Kendrick Nunn.

In Diallo, the Heat add a veteran of 183 NBA regular-season appearances since being selected in the second round of the 2016 NBA draft, with the New Orleans Pelicans, Phoenix Suns and Pistons. He split last season between Kyoto Hannaryz of the Japanese Basketball League and Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Puerto Rican BSN.

As for Bouyea, Daniels and Elmore, all three are eligible to play for the Heat’s G League affiliate, but also available to be signed by any NBA team.

The team’s official roster tells that story.

More than two months since signing Josh Richardson for a reunion tour with the team, the Heat have yet to formally return Richardson to the No. 0 he wore with the team from his selection in the second round of the 2015 NBA draft to his 2019 trade to the Philadelphia 76ers for Jimmy Butler.

No. 0 remains available from the team, worn only by since-departed Meyers Leonard and Marcus Garrett since Richardson’s departure four years ago. No. 0 also is the number worn by Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, who continues to remain aligned to his stance of pushing for a trade to the Heat amid the Blazers’ rebuild.

As training camp approaches, speculation continues to ratchet up in the typical NBA spin cycle, with none of the parties involved directly addressing the situation.

For their part, outside of the delay with the numerology on the team’s offseason roster, with other acquisitions beyond Richardson also yet to be assigned numbers, no member of the Heat front office, coaching staff or ownership wing has publicly addressed the speculation.

The last formal comment from the Trail Blazers came in a hastily called media session on July 10 at the Las Vegas Summer League, when General Manager Joe Cronin said, “We’re going to be patient. We’re going to do what’s best for our team. We’re going to see how this lands. And if it takes months, it takes months.”

That comment came in the wake of Lillard’s camp making clear that not only is a trade desired, but that the Heat would be the only accepted landing spot.

In the wake of that messaging, the NBA issued a statement that read, “We have advised (agent Aaron) Goodwin and Lillard that any future comments, made privately to teams or publicly, suggesting Lillard will not fully perform the services called for under his player contract in the event of a trade will subject Lillard to discipline by the NBA. We also have advised the Players Association that any similar comments by players or their agents will be subject to discipline going forward.”

In the wake of that statement, the NBA last month fined Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden $100,000 for his statement that he would never again play for 76ers President Daryl Morey.

The Heat largely have remained in a holding pattern since, even as potential complementary pieces have come off the board in free agency.

The Heat, instead, have filled the roster in the interim with non- or partially-guaranteed contracts, contracts that quickly could be offloaded in the event of a trade for Lillard.

While the Heat currently stand at the NBA offseason maximum of 21 players under contract, only 13 players have been signed to the standard roster, which has a 15-player regular-season limit.

In recent days, reports have come out stating that Cronin would be willing to go into training camp and the regular season with Lillard, 33, on a Blazers roster that currently is more geared toward the development of young guards Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe, as well as that Lillard only would report for training camp with either the Blazers or Heat.

Among Heat players linked to potential trade machinations for Lillard have been Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Nikola Jovic and Jaime Jaquez Jr., as well as various permutations of outgoing draft picks.

Both Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and Heat Assistant General Manager Adam Simon offered recent words of support for Jovic, who on Sunday shared in Serbia’s silver medal at the World Cup in the Philippines.

As for Heat players, Richardson and Adebayo both danced around the subject of Lillard during offseason interviews, with Lillard’s desire to play for the Heat coming in part because of his alliance with Adebayo on the Team USA roster that won gold at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

While NBA blockbuster trades directly ahead of training camp are rare, the Utah Jazz last year dealt guard Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sept. 3. And when Heat President Pat Riley arrived to the Heat in 1995, he acquired center Alonzo Mourning on the eve of the regular season.

In addition to opening training camp on Oct. 3, the Heat open their preseason schedule on Oct. 10 against the Charlotte Hornets at Kaseya Center and their 2023-24 regular season on Oct. 25 against the visiting Detroit Pistons.

The Heat are coming off a run to the NBA Finals, after finishing in seventh place in the Eastern Conference last season and advancing in the postseason through the play-in tournament.

In the absence of a trade, a possible season-opening starting lineup for the Heat could feature Adebayo, Butler, Herro, Lowry and Kevin Love.

With a move for Lillard, it potentially could leave the Heat with several lineup and rotation permutations to establish on the fly.

Because players signed in the offseason are ineligible to be dealt prior to Dec. 15 at the earliest, the only players on the Heat roster that currently can be put into trades are Adebayo, Butler, Herro, Lowry, Robinson, Jovic, Jaquez, Caleb Martin and Haywood Highsmith.

The belief inside the league remains that suitors beyond the Heat are reluctant to enter discussions regarding a player who has made clear a single preferred destination and who, at his age, is owed $216 million over the next four seasons.

Lillard is coming off a season when he averaged a career-best 32.2 points on a career-best .463 shooting.

The league’s annual Aug. 31 deadline allows teams to stretch the remaining payments due to a waived player over twice the number of years remaining on a deal plus one, as a means of alleviating the hit against the salary cap and luxury tax, provided such moves are made prior to Sept. 1.

With the Heat hard up against a new, onerous level of the luxury tax, there had been speculation earlier this offseason of such a move with the final season on the contract of Kyle Lowry, with the 37-year-old point guard ending last season as a reserve.

Instead, the Heat rebuked such speculation in June and then bypassed the stretch deadline.

Lowry’s $28,333,334 salary for the upcoming, final season on his three-year, $85 million contract now will count fully in 2023-24 against the Heat payroll or the payroll of an acquiring team. The stretch provision would have allowed the Heat to count one third of that amount against their cap over each of the next three seasons. Should Lowry be dealt, he would not be eligible to be stretched by such an acquiring team.

By electing not to invoke the stretch provision with Lowry or any other player on the roster, it leaves such players available for trades.

The Heat, hard up against the luxury tax at the times, previously utilized the stretch provision on the contracts of forwards A.J. Hammons in 2018 and Ryan Anderson in 2019, carrying those salaries on their books in seasons beyond the years the players were waived. The move with Ansderson in 2019 opened salary-cap space needed to add Jimmy Butler.

Unlike the introduction of previous NBA Collective Bargaining Agreements, the one introduced for the coming season did not include an amnesty provision to offload a contract without a future impact on the salary cap or luxury tax. The Heat utilized the amnesty provision in 2013 by dropping the contract of forward Mike Miller.

With 13 players under standard contract for the coming season (two-way contracts or tryout deals do not count against the luxury tax or salary cap), the Heat have $179.3 million in committed salary. With the salary cap set at $136 million and the luxury tax at $165.2 million, the Heat already stand well above both figures.

However, the NBA’s new CBA now features dual tax “aprons” that limit some personnel moves, with the first set at $172.3 million and the second at $182.7 million. It is that second figure that the Heat are attempting to maneuver below, thus the question of whether the stretch provision would have been put into play.

Teams are required to have at least 14 players under standard contract, which still potentially leaves the Heat with work to do with the books.

Potentially reducing or removing the luxury-tax hits would be a major payroll shakeup with a blockbuster trade, with Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard two months ago having requested a trade to the Heat.

While the luxury tax and luxury-tax payments are not calculated until season’s end, limitations against utilizing some salary-cap exceptions and trade exceptions are based on where a team stands at the time of such moves.

Currently under standard contract to the Heat are Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Caleb Martin, Josh Richardson, Kevin Love, Duncan Robinson, Haywood Highsmith, Thomas Bryant, Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Orlando Robinson, Butler and Lowry. Of those 13, Orlando Robinson is the lone player without a fully guaranteed contract for 2023-24. The team also has Jamal Cain, Jamaree Bouyea and Dru Smith under two-way contract. With Drew Peterson, Cole Swider, Justin Champagnie, Caleb Daniels and Alondes Williams having signed tryout Exhibit 10 deals, it has the Heat at the NBA offseason limit of 21 players under contract.

The Heat open training camp Oct. 3, with their preseason schedule opening Oct. 10 and their regular season on Oct. 25.

Among the highlights of Wade’s speech:

– Wade opened by asking, “Heat Nation, you’all in here?”

– A rousing “Let’s Go Heat!” ovation followed.

– He then spoke of the irony of entering the Hall along with Dirk Nowitzki, having vanquished Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals, and then with Nowitzki and the Mavericks having vanquished Wade and the Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals. “For Dirk and me, it’s been therapy,” he said with a smile. “Who would have thought we would be on the same team after all of our battles?”

– From there, he opened his speech with, “Here’s my final love letter,” adding, “I had the chance to see the way basketball bonded people.”

– Of his early basketball obsession, he said, “I look back on those days as some of the best of my life,” while also noting, “I was clumsy as hell back then.”

– That led to talk of his youth in Chicago and idolizing Michael Jordan, “By 17, basketball was my soul’s love language.”

– Adding, “The game is how I discovered who I could become,” and, “Through the game, I discovered who showed up for me when I win, and when I lose.”

– After chronicling his career surgeries, he said, “I’m on this stage because my beliefs have always been stronger than anyone’s doubts,” and, “The blows you take are fuel.”

– There then were thanks for all his former coaches, including the Heat’s Pat Riley, Stan Van Gundy and Erik Spoelstra, for helping him learn to play with a “Mount Rushmore of talent like Shaq and LeBron.”

– Noting that “the game gave me a lifetime of amazing memories,” he cited supporting Heat teammates such as Dorell Wright, Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Eddie Jones, Alonzo Mourning, Gary Payton, Antoine Walker and Mario Chalmers.

– Next mentioned were fellow Heat leading men Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Bosh and LeBron James.

– Of James, he said, “I watched him not take one single night off of being great.”

– There then were words for retiring Heat captain Udonis Haslem and “the protection he provided me on and off the court.”

– After introducing several career influences, including Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul, he noted wife Gabrielle Union and said, “Thank you for learning every ref’s name and screaming at them, so I didn’t have to, and saving me a lot of fine money.”

– He ended his speech by bringing his father to the stage, so they together could take what he called their, “rightful step into basketball heaven.”

– With the two on stage, he concluded with, “We in the Hall of Fame, dog.”

Other Wade- and Heat-related moments from Saturday’s induction night:

– Allen Iverson, who sat alongside as a presenter as Wade spoke, arrived wearing a sports coat with Wade’s name and No. 3 on the back.

– Of Iverson, Wade said during his speech, “You are a living, breathing reminder that redemption and growth are possible.”

– Wade added, “You are the culture and we love you and we thank you, Allen Iverson.”

– As he entered Symphony Hall for the ceremony, Riley again reflected on Wade, first saying, “He’s our prodigal son,” and then adding, “Dwyane is a special, special human being.”

– During a pre-ceremony interview on NBA TV, Wade, 41, spoke of still being in game shape, “I’m 217, Pat. What you got for me? I’m 217. How much money y’all got left?”

– During that interview, Wade cited Isiah Thomas as the greatest player from his Chicago hometown, and also noted the influences of fellow Chicago products and contemporaries Quentin Richardson, Darius Miles and Corey Maggette.

– Wade’s interview briefly was interrupted by a video bomb from former Heat forward and fellow Hall of Famer Chris Bosh, similar to those offered during the Heat’s Big Three era.

– Former Heat guard Ray Allen also spoke on NBA TV, noting of the quartet  of NBA players inducted Saturday – Wade, Nowitzki, Pau Gasol and Tony Parker – “each of their own ways, they changed the game.”

– During his speech, Parker noted with a laugh how even with two fierce NBA Finals battles with his San Antonio Spurs against the Heat that Wade was the favorite player of Parker’s little brother. “D-Wade, we played twice in the NBA Finals,” Parker said, “and people don’t know that, but he’s my little brother’s favorite player. So every time he would come to the house and be like, ‘D-wyane Waaaaade!’ Like all the time. And I’d be like, ‘Man, can you stop it, you’re my own brother.’ “

– During the video introducing Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, Riley said, “Pop has given the NBA a blueprint in how to run a team.”

– And during the introductory video for Nowitzki, Bosh said, “He brought so much to the game that you always felt you were a step behind.”

– Of entering in a class with so many prime rivals, Nowitzki said, “I didn’t always like you guys. We competed at the highest level.”

– Then, during the introductory video for Wade, LeBron James offered five simple words to describe his former teammate, “Flash. Speed. Power. Elegance. Shiftiness.”

Additional coverage of Wade’s speech coming Sunday at SunSentinel.com and in Monday’s Sun Sentinel.

When the 13-time All-Star guard is enshrined Saturday into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield,. Mass., Wade will become the first Miami Heat draft pick so honored.

Friday, at the Hall’s pre-induction media session, Wade said he was grateful to carry that distinction, but that he also hopes to stand as a trailblazer for the franchise he helped lead to three NBA championships before retiring in 2019.

“Doing something for the first time feels good, doesn’t it? It sounds good. But it sets the bar,” said Wade, selected at No. 5 out of Marquette in 2003. “And I’m always about setting the bar, setting the standard. I like being the first to do stuff. Why not, right? But it’s not just for me. Because someone set a bar for me.”

While Wade is the first Heat draft pick to enter the Hall, several former Heat players have made the grade to Springfield, with Wade citing 2014 inductee Alonzo Mourning, whose franchise scoring record of 9,459 points Wade not only surpassed, but more than doubled.

“Alonzo set a bar in Miami before me,” Wade, 41, said Friday. “He had 10,000-some-odd points, I had to get over that. And I set mine, and somebody will get over it. And that’s how it should be. We should want to set the bar higher for the next generation to have something to see and something to go and try to emulate and try to accomplish.

“So it means something to me that I’m the first one in the rich history of the Miami Heat, of all the great players that were drafted, all the great players that played through that. But I’m homegrown in that sense, so it’s special, it’s very special. And I wear that as a badge of honor. But, like I said, I don’t want to be the last one. I want someone else that the Heat have drafted to be able to stand on this stage one day and I would love to see them into the Hall of Fame as the second.”

It is why Wade was particularly taken by a tribute video the Heat posted on social media in advance of the weekend whirlwind.

“The Miami Heat released a video yesterday and a lot of my teammates over the years sent in videos and I think I’m most proud of being a pretty good teammate,” he said. “I did some amazing things individually of course, that’s why I’m standing here. But I played the game to do something and be a part of something that was just bigger than me. And being able to see teammates pay their love, pay their respect, pay their support, that’s what I’m most proud of, that I have relationships with guys.

“I always say that legacy to me is what people say about you when you’re not in the room. And that’s what matters, what my teammates say about me. And I was a tough teammate to some people, of course, as a leader. But I think I was a pretty good teammate. I think I was selfless. That’s what matters. All the points and all the things that people like to focus on, those don’t matter to me. What matters is I accomplished some amazing things with my teammates that will be forever.”

Scheduled as the final inductee to speak at the Saturday ceremony scheduled for 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. (NBA TV), Wade on Friday already found himself emotional.

“It’s so hard to put this journey into words,” he said. “I’ve been trying in every interview, and the only thing I can come back to is basketball has been everything to me, because it’s allowed me and my family to see things and be places, go places, and experience things that we never imagined that we would. So, I go right to all the people along the journey. I think the cool thing about this experience for me has been being able to see people that have been part of this journey.

“It’s just been incredible. I’m having to take a little time away once I leave this weekend and really sit on the beach somewhere, just like look around and be like, ‘What? Me? Huh?’ So I’m still that kid that doesn’t even understand why I’m here.”

When the 13-time All-Star guard is enshrined Saturday into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield,. Mass., Wade will become the first Miami Heat draft pick so honored.

Friday, at the Hall’s pre-induction media session, Wade said he was grateful to carry that distinction, but that he also hopes to stand as a trailblazer for the franchise he helped lead to three NBA championships before retiring in 2019.

“Doing something for the first time feels good, doesn’t it? It sounds good. But it sets the bar,” said Wade, selected at No. 5 out of Marquette in 2003. “And I’m always about setting the bar, setting the standard. I like being the first to do stuff. Why not, right? But it’s not just for me. Because someone set a bar for me.”

While Wade is the first Heat draft pick to enter the Hall, several former Heat players have made the grade to Springfield, with Wade citing 2014 inductee Alonzo Mourning, whose franchise scoring record of 9,459 points Wade not only surpassed, but more than doubled.

“Alonzo set a bar in Miami before me,” Wade, 41, said Friday. “He had 10,000-some-odd points, I had to get over that. And I set mine, and somebody will get over it. And that’s how it should be. We should want to set the bar higher for the next generation to have something to see and something to go and try to emulate and try to accomplish.

“So it means something to me that I’m the first one in the rich history of the Miami Heat, of all the great players that were drafted, all the great players that played through that. But I’m homegrown in that sense, so it’s special, it’s very special. And I wear that as a badge of honor. But, like I said, I don’t want to be the last one. I want someone else that the Heat have drafted to be able to stand on this stage one day and I would love to see them into the Hall of Fame as the second.”

It is why Wade was particularly taken by a tribute video the Heat posted on social media in advance of the weekend whirlwind.

“The Miami Heat released a video yesterday and a lot of my teammates over the years sent in videos and I think I’m most proud of being a pretty good teammate,” he said. “I did some amazing things individually of course, that’s why I’m standing here. But I played the game to do something and be a part of something that was just bigger than me. And being able to see teammates pay their love, pay their respect, pay their support, that’s what I’m most proud of, that I have relationships with guys.

“I always say that legacy to me is what people say about you when you’re not in the room. And that’s what matters, what my teammates say about me. And I was a tough teammate to some people, of course, as a leader. But I think I was a pretty good teammate. I think I was selfless. That’s what matters. All the points and all the things that people like to focus on, those don’t matter to me. What matters is I accomplished some amazing things with my teammates that will be forever.”

Scheduled as the final inductee to speak at the Saturday ceremony scheduled for 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. (NBA TV), Wade on Friday already found himself emotional.

“It’s so hard to put this journey into words,” he said. “I’ve been trying in every interview, and the only thing I can come back to is basketball has been everything to me, because it’s allowed me and my family to see things and be places, go places, and experience things that we never imagined that we would. So, I go right to all the people along the journey. I think the cool thing about this experience for me has been being able to see people that have been part of this journey.

“It’s just been incredible. I’m having to take a little time away once I leave this weekend and really sit on the beach somewhere, just like look around and be like, ‘What? Me? Huh?’ So I’m still that kid that doesn’t even understand why I’m here.”

As in better than LeBron.

And as in like Mike.

In each case, offering perspective while discussing Wade in terms of LeBron James and Michael Jordan.

Even with James pushing the Heat to the NBA Finals in each of his four seasons with the team, Riley said it is Wade who stands as the franchise’s all-time greatest.

“While you can argue whether or not LeBron or Dwyane were better, and who was better, as a Heat player,” Riley said, “Dwyane is the greatest player ever who put on a uniform with us.

“LeBron was here for four years and gave us a tremendous lift and helped Dwyane achieve what he wanted to achieve. But over the body of work, over 17 years here in Miami, Dwyane is the greatest player that ever played for the Heat. And that’s not an insult to LeBron. That’s because of his longevity and the short term that LeBron was here.”

James becomes eligible for enshrinement once fully retired for four full seasons, then to be considered for enshrinement in the fifth year of retirement.

Riley then turned to arguably the game’s ultimate icon, having previously offered his own perspective by sending Jordan’s No. 23 to the arena rafters even with Jordan playing in Miami only in visiting colors.

Riley said the similarities between Wade and Jordan were undeniable.

“He was Jordan-like,” Riley said of Wade, who will be enshrined Saturday in Springfield, Mass. “He had a game similar to Michael. He was like a cat, he was like a cougar. When he put the ball on the floor and he started going to the hoop — and we used to watch this on the tape all the time — we used to say, ‘Look at how low he is to the ground and he still has the strength and the power to go right or left, spin and dunk the ball or littler floaters of stuff. That’s Michael.’

“And he wanted to. He was his hero in a lot of ways. He watched him. Dwyane used to walk on the court like Michael Jordan. If you watched him stand and cross his legs and put his hands on his hip, it was like how Jordan would rest on a free throw. And so there’s nothing wrong in modeling yourself after someone who was great and taking on some of their characteristics.”

Riley then offered a final thought on Wade/Jordan, one punctuated with a laugh.

“But he had a game similar to Michael and he was unstoppable one on one,” he said of Wade. “Michael was unstoppable one on five.”

Traveling party

Among those with Heat ties scheduled to be in Springfield to help honor Wade are Heat Hall of Famers Riley, Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway, Gary Payton and Chris Bosh; Wade’s  former teammates Udonis Haslem, Shane Battier and Bam Adebayo; the Arison ownership family; coach Erik Spoelstra; and assistant coach Caron Butler, who was a teammate with Wade in Miami and with Dallas Mavericks inductee Dirk Nowitzki . . .

Wade is scheduled to speak last at Saturday’s ceremony at Springfield’s Symphony Hall, with the inductions scheduled for 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., to be televised on NBA TV. The induction order is tentatively set as: Tony Parker, Gary Blair, Gene Bess, Pau Gasol, David Hixon, Gene Keady, 1976 U.S. Women’s Olympic Team, Gregg Popovich, Jim Valvano, Becky Hammon, Nowitzki and Wade.

Such prime placement is another example of what Riley cited as Wade’s evolution off the court.

“He just matured,” Riley said. “He became smarter. He became more experienced. He became more poised. He can get up in front of any crowd right now, take a mic and hold an audience for 30 minutes to an hour.”

“And,” Heat President Pat Riley said this week, “it turned into back-to-back championships and three more trips to the Finals.”

Understand, this was a player two seasons removed from the NBA scoring title, one who had helped his team advance to the NBA Finals a season earlier.

And then he . . . deferred.

Many who will ascend the stage at Springfield’s Symphony Hall will discuss their basketball journeys in terms of sacrifice. Wade embodied it in the prime of his career.

“Some people are lucky enough to go through their career and get the ball in their hand, and that’s how they can ride,” Wade said ahead of his induction, “My journey did not start that way and my journey did not end that way.

“And so to be able to find a way throughout the journey of basketball to become a complete basketball player, whether you’re the No.1 guy on the team, or whether you’re the guy that just has to make sure you’re there before everybody gets there, to be prepared to get your team ready, as a scout player, I’ve done it all. So I felt that I gave the game everything that I had, and I did it every day.”

At the start, at Marquette, there was little choice, academic guidelines keeping him off the court his freshman year before he flourished into the No. 5 pick in the 2003 NBA draft.

But in the 2011 offseason, with the Heat coming off a sobering NBA Finals loss to the Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki, who also will be inducted Saturday, Wade came to define the selflessness that Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra have preached since.

So Wade not only looked in the mirror, but also at Big Three teammates LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

“We have to remember that in 2006 he was the MVP and he led us to a world championship,” Riley said of Wade’s performance in those NBA Finals. “At that time, at that moment, he was the greatest player on the planet during those Finals against Dallas.

“In 2011 when they failed, when the Big Three failed, we had a meeting and I said, ‘You guys gotta figure this out. You’re going to have to figure out the pecking order in how this is going to work.’ “

A summit followed. LeBron would be the alpha. Wade and Bosh would complement after nearly a decade of playing as leading men.

“And everybody knew LJ was going to be at the top, Dwyane was going to be somewhere in the middle, CB was going to take up the third spot,” Riley said. “They went to the Bahamas, they met, and they had come to terms with it, and they lived by it.

“And, so, Dwyane was absolutely unselfish there. I think he was the one who said, ‘Hey, man, we can’t do it this way, where every night somebody’s going to have to be the guy. This is going to have to be the pecking order.’ “

Riley had seen it before, from Wilt Chamberlain stepping back from scoring while with the Los Angeles Lakers to Bob McAdoo agreeing to play as sixth man under the Riley-coached Lakers.

But those were Hall of Famers further along, grasping for unachieved team success amid their next iteration. This was Dwyane Wade still capable of being a leading man on a contender.

“You just got to give Dwayne credit,” Riley said. “He was very unselfish.”

It was a meeting Wade reflected upon ahead of his 2019 retirement, particularly the discussion with James.

“I said, ‘I watched you play all year, you weren’t yourself. You weren’t playing your game. You were trying to make sure everybody was happy, ‘ ” Wade recalled of that 2011 offseason meeting. “It had to be done.”

From ball dominant, Wade worked relentlessly off the ball, Spoelstra marveling at the 6-foot-4 guard’s ability to master the nuances of subtle and not-so-subtle cuts. Three more Finals berths followed, but also championships in 2012 and ’13.

To put the degree of change into perspective, consider that in winning the Heat’s first championship in 2006 against the Mavericks, Wade averaged 34.7 points in those Finals. In winning the second, Wade averaged 22.6 against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2012 NBA Finals, and then 19.6 in the championship-winning run through the 2013 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.

“Dwyane really went out of his way to make sure LeBron is the best player,” Spoelstra said.

Wade said it had to be done.

“A lot of people didn’t understand why I did that,” he said.

Bosh did.

“Dwyane put a lot of pressure on everybody,” Bosh said. “He put pressure on everybody else to aspire for greatness.”

Saturday, greatness — and selflessness — will be embraced at the sport’s shrine.

“I hope their memories of me was of someone who gave everything he had on the basketball court,” Wade, 41, said, “someone who was unselfish, someone who did it the right way, who did it his way, but in the midst of doing it his way, made sure he uplifted others, empowered others and brought others along the journey.”

Dwyane Wade’s Hall of Fame resume

•  Three-time NBA champion (2006, 2012, 2013), as MVP of 2006 Finals.
•  13-time All-Star, as MVP of 2010 game.
•  Eight-time All-NBA.
•  Three-time All-Defensive.
•  2009 NBA scoring champion.
•  2004 All-Rookie.
•  NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2022.
•  Six-time NBA Player of the Month.
•  13-time NBA Player of the Week.
•  Received MVP votes in nine seasons.
•  No. 3 retired by Heat.
•  One of three NBA players to total at least 20,000 points, 5,000 assists, 4,000 rebounds, 1,500 steals, 800 blocks and 500 3-pointers (also LeBron James and Michael Jordan).
•  Heat all-time leader in points, assists, steals, games, minutes, turnovers, fouls, field goals, field-goal attempts, free throws, free-throw attempts, usage percentage, win shares, defensive win shares and value over replacement.
• Regular season: 27th all-time in NBA free throws made, 33rd all-time in NBA steals, 35th all-time in NBA two-point baskets, 37th all-time in NBA points, 47th all-time in NBA assists.
• Playoffs: 13th all-time in scoring,  14th all-time in free throws made, 15th all-time in steals, 25th in all-time assists. Also, 24th all-time in NBA career player-efficiency rating.