Having spent the bulk of his 16-year NBA career as a member of the Miami Heat, retired superstar Dwyane Wade’s influence on the franchise was legendary.
Despite that status and his popularity among other NBA players, Wade said he never made an effort to recruit players to come play for the Heat.
Wade was interviewed by Sports Illustrated‘s Rohan Nadkarni on a variety of topics and rejected the notion that he ever pitched the idea of playing in South Florida to his contemporaries:
“Never. I’ve never had to pitch a guy on Miami. I didn’t have to pitch Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal), he came on his own. I didn’t have to pitch LeBron [James] and Chris [Bosh], it was more so about what we could do together, not necessarily where it was going to be at. If somebody reaches out to me, and asks me what I think, then I give them my spiel. But I’ve never had to pitch a guy on Miami. I think it’s just social media talk. It’s something for someone to write. It’s funny to me.”
The trade for O’Neal played a key role in helping the Heat capture their first-ever NBA title in 2006. Meanwhile, the free agent signings of James and Bosh in 2010 led to four consecutive trips to the NBA Finals and for the Heat a pair of league titles in 2012 and 2013.
Wade’s influence has continued beyond his playing career, with the future Hall of Famer conducting a basketball camp for some of the most talented younger NBA players. In addition to working on basketball skills, he’s also been willing to offer seasoned advice to those players in an attempt to avoid any pitfalls by them down the road.
Closer to home, Wade’s also been helping his son, Zaire, prepare for the next stage of his own basketball career. The younger Wade has been the object of some college recruiting, with his father there to offer advice and discuss the process of his own recruitment from Marquette University two decades ago.
Wade is in the early stages of his retirement, but is already showing that he has no inclination to slow down. Exactly what he accomplishes in the future is unknown, although the one certainty is that in a few years, he’ll be welcomed into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
