While NFL brothers Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce were honored at the Cleveland Cavaliers game, big man Dean Wade was the star of the show.
Wade is mostly regarded as a low-usage role player for Cleveland but he had a breakout performance during a win over Boston on Tuesday night. The big personally outscored the Celtics, 20-17, during the fourth quarter.
The former Kansas State standout was able to accomplish this, shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the field during that stretch. He was able to help erase a 22-point that Boston held with only nine minutes remaining in the game.
DEAN WADE IS TAKING OVER 🗣️
THE CAVS CUT THE LEAD TO 3 🍿 pic.twitter.com/7lG0mHbeJO
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 6, 2024
All the while, Travis and Jason Kelce were cheering him on. In the clip above, for example, you can see Travis losing his mind about Wade’s unreal performance.
You can also watch Travis celebrate with Wade after the game:
Travis Kelce hyped for tonight's hero Dean Wade! pic.twitter.com/hsaCyjQjfG
— NBA (@NBA) March 6, 2024
This was an especially important moment for Wade, who is a “huge” fan of the Chiefs.
After the game, he said it was “pretty cool” to have that performance in front of the Kansas City tight end.
Travis Kelce wasted no time recruiting Dean Wade after his clutch performance vs. the Celtics 😂 pic.twitter.com/Jg8qsQRYFT
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 6, 2024
The big man also said that Kelce noticed Wade had “good hands” and that if basketball doesn’t work out for him, he could have a future as a backup tight end.
Fortunately, it seems that Wade’s NBA career is going well. But to get that sort of praise from one of the NFL’s best tight ends to ever play must have felt really good.