Dwyane Wade’s playing career is over, but he remains closely ingrained within the NBA thanks to his ownership stake in the Utah Jazz. For Miami Heat fans, the fact that Wade did not join the team’s ownership group came as a sour surprise a couple years ago.
As it turns out, the way things transpired surprised Wade himself. He recently admitted that he thought he would join the Heat’s ownership group once he decided to hang his uniform up for good.
"It's the pinnacle… I couldn't ask for anything better."@DwyaneWade talks being named a @Hoophall Finalist with @Money23Green at #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/Gx5kBSFy2D
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 20, 2023
“I think everybody expected that, right?” He asked Draymond Green when talking about how he was expected to join Miami’s ownership ground at some point. “And I even expected it at some point, but life happens. Things happen.”
Watching Wade flourish as a member of the Jazz’s ownership group is surely a sweet sight for Heat fans, but there are still many who would rather have him working on the ownership side of things in Miami.
After all, as Green himself stated during the interview, Wade is the “G.O.A.T of the Miami Heat.” That sentiment is widely held by NBA fans in and outside of South Florida.
During his time with the Heat, Wade won three NBA championships. The first came in 2006 when he was just a third-year player. He then played a pivotal role in helping to recruit both LeBron James and Chris Bosh to Miami to form the Heat’s Big 3. That trio led the team to four straight NBA Finals appearances and two titles.
In his career with Miami, the 13-time All-Star averaged 22.7 points, 5.6 assists and 4.7 boards per game. He is, and will forever be, an icon that is synonymous with the Heat franchise.
Now with the Jazz, he is playing a crucial role in what will be one of the more dramatic rebuilds in recent NBA history. After trading away both Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell during the 2022 offseason, the Jazz have a monstrous war chest of future draft picks.
Wade will surely play a really important factor in helping the team evaluate talent and decide how to use those picks in the upcoming drafts. The future is bright for the Jazz organization, and Wade’s presence is a big reason why.
