Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade is set to be enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday night, and he’s taking the time to reflect on his career before that happens.
During a recent conversation with the Miami Herald, Wade was asked if he had any regrets about how the 2016 offseason, which is when he left the Heat for the Chicago Bulls, played out.
“I think we can go back and look at all my interviews,” Wade said. “I talked about being like Dirk [Nowitzki], I talked about being like Kobe [Bryant], to name a few that could be with one organization for their entire career. But the business, the business sometimes shows up and it did in 2016. So I don’t regret it because it’s all a part of my journey. There are a lot of things with that Chicago move that a lot of people don’t know that was just personal for me. Getting a chance to spend that last year with Henry Thomas, my agent, that was meaningful for me. If I was in Miami, I wouldn’t have been able to do that. So outside of the game, it was bigger than that for me. So I don’t regret that. But I do go on record and say that I did want to be one of those players. Unfortunately, that’s one of the things in my career I wasn’t able to accomplish that I tried to accomplish.”
As plenty of NBA fans know well, Nowitzki and Bryant were one-team players. Nowitzki spent 21 seasons with the Dallas Mavericks and even had a heated rivalry with Wade and the Heat that has flamed out over the years.
Nowitzki and the Mavericks were able to beat Wade and the Heat in the 2011 Finals after losing to them in 2006. The German big man will be enshrined alongside Wade on Saturday night.
As for Bryant, he spent 20 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, winning five titles. He passed away in January 2020.
Wade spent a little less than two seasons away from the Heat before being traded back to the team from the Cleveland Cavaliers on Feb. 8, 2018. The 13-time All-Star then ended up finishing his career with the team that drafted him with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.
The Illinois native finished his career with averages of 22.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game on 48.0 percent shooting from the field. He finished his time in the NBA as a one-time Finals MVP, three-time champion and eight-time All-NBA selection while also making three All-Defensive teams.
It seems as though Wade has no regrets about his playing career as he gets set to receive one of the sport’s ultimate honors. Heat fans will surely be watching Saturday’s ceremony closely to hear anything Wade has to say.
