Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Wade laughs off thought of 1 last spin
Despite Riley floating idea he play longer, veteran set on retiring
MIAMI — The comment came while the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade was celebrating a new life, which mostly left him unaware of comments regarding his NBA life.
So, no, Wade said as he prepared for Friday’s game against the Chicago Bulls, he was unaware of Heat President Pat Riley suggesting two weeks ago that Wade’s “One Last Dance” retirement tour might not necessarily be a last dance.
“Didn’t hear that,” Wade said, now back after paternity leave after missing seven games. “I appreciate him thinking that. Could I be swayed? I don’t think so. Not at this point.”
It was during a Veteran’s Day event, when members of the Heat were putting in a day of construction, that Riley took a long view of Wade’s work with the team.
“I got to get him to play another three more years,” Riley said of his 36-year-old star. “I want him to get to 40. If he has a great year, he might not fall out of love with the game. He might want to just stay in it. That’s my goal.”
Unlike Wade’s relationship with Kaavia James Union Wade, his newborn daughter, Wade said his commitment to his playing career continues to come with an expiration date.
“It’s always a chance of everything,” Wade said of Riley’s powers of persuasion. “I know the chance is very, very, very, very, very slim. I’ve got my mind made up.
“I’m just going to finish this year out. I want to get back into the groove I was in before I left, just for my body feeling great, and just continue to enjoy the game and play the game the way I know I can, even at this age, even in my role, even in my minutes.”
Wade’s hope is that his own farewell video will resonate more than Riley’s offhanded suggestion.
“I’m committed to this being my last dance,” he reiterated. “But anytime Pat says something, you’ve always got to do a little side-eye look to what he’s [saying].”
Perhaps it is Riley’s respect for veteran players, perhaps an appreciation for what Wade has meant
to the franchise, but Wade said the suggestion from Riley of pushing to play on until 40 is not a new proposal.
“The one thing is, he said that a long time ago,” Wade said. “He always said he wanted me to play until I was 40. And even when I was 30 I laughed at him, like, ‘It’s no way possible.’ So he continues to have that. I appreciate that.”
For Wade, there is little room for that long view.
Instead, the focus is on more daddy time with his daughter.
While the Mayo Clinic on its website says “air travel is appropriate for most infants,” a physician writing for Parent Magazine notes, “wait until your baby is at least 2 months old -and preferably 4-6 months old -- before taking a flight.”
With Wade’s daughter born by surrogate in California and still with her mother, actress Gabrielle Union, Wade said there already is a working plan for husband, wife and daughter to be reunited, both in the short and longer term.
“Normally it takes kids a month to get all their shots before they can get on a plane,” he said, “so it’ll take a little while before she can get all her shots before she can come here. The good thing about it is we’re going to the West Coast, at least to break it up.”
The Heat are scheduled to be in Los Angeles from Dec. 8 to Dec. 10 as part of a 10-day Western Conference trip, then away for only a single day the balance of the month.
“So hopefully around Christmas,” Wade said of a formal homecoming. “It would be around the time that she’d be able to fly, come home, and be with the family for Christmas.”
And it is Miami, Wade said, that will remain the family’s home base.
“That’s something that we’ve got to work out,” he said. “My wife has done it for so many years. Even though she works, on weekends she’s found a way to come home. It’s going to be a little bit more expensive for me to send ‘em home with her work schedule, bring ‘em down here to Miami. But we’re going to do what we have to do this season to make sure I cannot be away from my daughter for too long.”