Wade plans for 1 final NBA season
MIAMI — Dwyane Wade’s reunion tour with the Miami Heat will continue, with the franchise’s all-time leading scorer agreeing to return for 2018-19 in what now will be the 16th and final NBA season for the South Florida icon who has led the franchise to its three championships.
“This is the hardest decision that I’ve ever had to make. But it’s one of the best decisions that I’ve had to make,” Wade said in video released Sunday night on social media, one recorded earlier in the day. “So this decision is not easy and I’ve asked myself, ‘Why? Why not?’ and all these things. I have heard everything from my family to my fans around the world to what I should and shouldn’t do. But I’ve done things my way … the way I feel is right for me and my family.
“And what I feel is right is to ask you guys to join me for one last dance, for one last season. This is it. I’ve given this game everything I have, and I’m happy about that. And I am going to give one last season, everything I have left. And when I walk away, I’m still going to love it.”
Wade, who rejoined the Heat in February in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers, had put off his decision while the NBA dealt with free agency and while the team rounded out the remainder of its 20-player training-camp roster, with camp to open Sept. 25 in Boca Raton at Florida Atlantic University.
Wade, who also holds the Heat franchise records for games played, minutes, assists, steals and victories, had been non-committal about a return as recently as Thursday and Friday appearances at the restaurant he formally will open Thursday in Aventura.
At the time, Wade only would offer, “I wish I had an answer for you. I don’t have it today.”
Ultimately, the lure of a full season back in South Florida proved great enough to continue on in his iconic No. 3 jersey at AmericanAirlines Arena.
“Let’s enjoy it,” Wade said of a farewell season that only days ago appeared might not become a reality. “Let’s have some joy through this last season. Let’s push this young team over the hump and let’s write our own story to the end of this career — together. Together.”
Wade’s agreement on what is expected to be at the $2.4 million minimal salary for a player of Wade’s NBA tenure comes in the wake of close friend and fellow threetime Heat NBA champion Udonis Haslem agreeing to a similar $2.4 million one-year contract a week ago.
“Season one-six,” Wade said Sunday, “it’s coming, real soon.”
Wade, who turns 37 on Jan.17,hasplayedallbut1⁄ of his 15 NBA seasons with the Heat, spending 2016-17 with his hometown Chicago Bulls after acrimonious freeagency negotiations with the Heat, and then the start of last season with the Cavaliers alongside friend and former Heat championship teammate LeBron James.
He again is expected to play as a reserve, as he did during last season’s return, often providing needed sparks amid the Heat’s push to a playoff berth.
He made clear Sunday that he is returning for more than a season of tributes and accolades, laughing at the notion that some already have taken to calling his adopted home Wade County.