When the Cleveland Cavaliers traded Dwyane Wade to the Miami Heat only a half-season into his first stint with the Cavs, everyone was applauding the reunion. It was Wade going back to South Beach. Wade County was alive and well but another question crept up. How long will this last?
When Wade left the Heat in the summer of 2016, everyone wondered what the price would be for a superstar at the tail end of his career. The Chicago Bulls paid that price at about $45 million for two years and Chicago eventually had to buy Wade out after the first year. He joined the Cavs to reunite with LeBron James but that ended up being an entire mess also. The last two seasons have shown it might be close to the end for Wade.
Wade’s future with the Heat will not involve a Kobe Bryant-esque retirement tour. It might just end when the current Miami Heat season comes to a close.
Following comes from Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
Wade, 36, told me in recent days that for the first time in his career, he is genuinely undecided whether he wants to play beyond this season. Wade has said that he will only play for the Heat, if he continues his career beyond this season.
“I don’t know,” Wade said. “I have told everybody around me that I am taking it after this season and go from there. It’s the first year I’ve ever went into the summer with that mind-set. I always went into it as a free agent or opting out of a deal to get another deal. This is the first summer I can say I’m just going into the summer and see how I feel and see the position this organization is in and go from there. I’m not really concerned with it, honestly. I’m cool with whatever I decide to do. It will be my decision.”
Does he need to determine, after this season, if he even has a desire to play more?
“Definitely,” he said. “You definitely have to check that. A lot of things go into it. Do you want to put that same grind in again? As you get older, it’s a different kind of grind to get ready for games, to get your body ready. [And] can you mentally go through another year and give it your all and not be checked out in the middle of that season?
“[Udonis Haslem] always talked about, as you get older, you take it year by year. But this is the first summer that I will go into the summer and say I ain’t got much hair left, but I’m going to let my hair down and look at everything as a whole, my family and basketball. Being back here helps that situation for me, makes the decision even easier since now that I’m back already. And sit down with Pat [Riley] and Micky [Arison] and everybody and see what’s best for me and go from there.”
