He'll watch the retrospective video highlighting moments from the Miami Heat's postseason run to an NBA title, then get his glimmering new championship ring and see the commemorative banner finally sway from the arena's rafters.
Then, according to the time schedule set for the pregame festivities, Wade will have exactly five minutes to get ready what he considers the night's primary event - facing the Chicago Bulls in the first of 82 regular-season games where the Heat will start defending that championship.
“It's going to be sweet and kind of a little bittersweet also,” Wade said. “I think you should have these kind of ceremonies when you have nothing else to do. But when you've got to get prepared for a game, it kind of takes away from the moment. It'll be great, but right away, we're going to have to snap out of it.”
Players - who'll wear the same red uniforms they wore the night they won the title in Dallas - haven't seen the finished rings yet, and most know very little about what they'll look like.
Heat coach Pat Riley, who'll be collecting his seventh piece of championship jewelry - his fifth as a head coach - was involved in the design, so he knows what's coming. And he offered only a few hints Monday.
“It's a big ring,” Riley said. “Big, but very elegant.”
Like Wade, Riley said he wishes the pomp and circumstance of championship-celebration night didn't interfere with a game; given his preference, he would have gladly accepted the rings in Dallas on the night Miami won the NBA title and moved on.
So, too, would Shaquille O'Neal, who'll do the same thing with this ring as he did with his first three - send it to his stepfather, Phil Harrison.
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