Brooklyn Nets: 3 things to watch in season finale against Heat

2. Wade finale a major X-factor

The countdown clock for Dwyane Wade’s induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame will start at the moment the final buzzer sounds at Barclays Center Wednesday night and Wade will almost certainly be a headliner — along with Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki — in 2022.

Kobe Bryant sort of set the gold standard for career finales when he scored 60 points against the Utah Jazz in his final game in April 2016.

The Brooklyn Nets will certainly do something to honor the Miami Heat’s franchise icon, who did not play when the teams met at Barclays Center back on Nov. 14, and it will be well-deserved.

Wade is the first member of the big four from the top of the 2003 NBA Draft to voluntarily enter retirement.

Chris Bosh, Wade’s teammate in Miami for the Big Three’s run of four straight NBA Finals appearances and two championships from 2010-14 and the No. 4 pick in that iconic draft class, was forced to step away from the game because of health concerns.

Carmelo Anthony, the No. 3 selection in 2003, hasn’t played since November when he entered the Stephon Marbury zone — still on the roster, not with the team — while with the Houston Rockets before being waived by the Chicago Bulls after a January trade.

That leaves LeBron James, the top pick in that 2003 draft, as one of three members of that draft class — one of the best all-time, right there with the 1984 class of Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, John Stockton and some guy named Michael Jordan — still active in the NBA.

The others are 42nd overall selection Zaza Pachulia, with the Detroit Pistons, and 51st overall pick Kyle Korver, still shooting for the Utah Jazz after all these years.

Honoring a legend in his final game is the right thing to do. Getting walked on by a legend in his final game is what a team wants to avoid.

The Heat were eliminated from playoff contention on Tuesday, so their motivation on Wednesday will be all about the last dance of Wade’s “one last dance” farewell tour.

Wade made his first start of the season on Tuesday against the Philadelphia 76ers after 91 straight appearances off the bench since he returned to Miami in February 2018.

He is likely to get the start in his final career game. At the very least, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel after the win over the 76ers that he planned to play both Wade and fellow veteran Udonis Haslem in Brooklyn.

Wade played 35 minutes against Philadelphia, scoring 30 points — his second 30-point game of the season and first since dropping 35 on the Toronto Raptors on Nov. 25 in Toronto — on 10-of-23 shooting, going 4-for-10 from 3-point range.

Efficiency isn’t the goal — it’s sending Wade off with a big finish that will be.

The Nets just have to avoid getting caught watching the show.