In May of 2003, many the NBA's lackluster teams had brought with them high hopes of securing the number one overall pick in that year's draft. A pick that could only become Lebron James, arguably the best player of his era, yet outside of the first 6 picks the consolation prizes weren't half as bad as they were in other years.
The ping pong balls were bounced and so it came. Cleveland won and gained the greatest player in they would ever have . Detroit whiffed on a foreign unknown. Denver got a National Champion and significant scorers. Toronto gained a talented big man from Texas. And then there was Miami.
Pat Riley had won titles with the Lakers and removed the Knicks from obscurity. He joined the Heat as team president and coach in 1996. They were at the top of the Eastern Conference from then until 2001 when franchise player Alonzo Mourning came down with kidney ailments. They faced two seasons in the bottom of the east. Then on draft night they acquired the most iconic player in their history, Marquette guard Dwyane Wade.
In his rookie year the Heat improved by 17 wins and gained a playoff spot. The next year they traded for Shaquille O'Neal and lost in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Detroit Pistons.
The next year they won their first NBA title and Dwyane Wade put on one of the greatest NBA Finals performances in history whilst capturing NBA Finals MVP.
At no point during Wade's Heat tenure has he been the highest paid member of the team. Even the lean years between the 2006 title and the arrival of Lebron James and Chris Bosh due to the team acquiring expiring contracts of lapsed superstars such as Jermaine O'neil and Shawn Marion.
Wade held his resolve for the good of the franchise under the belief that one day he would be repaid for all he has done.
Through these last two years we have seen that unless Wade was going to get paid an extraordinary amount to become and maybe 50% stake of the franchise, I mean after all Dwyane Wade is about 75% of the Miami Heat as a franchise's history.
People say Wade would tie the franchise up financially like Kobe Bryant had the Lakers had in his last years, keep in mind Kobe had won 5 titles with them and was a franchise icon at the time. Bryant also didn't force the team to trade prospects such as De'Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, and Jordan Clarkson for superstars thus leaving them with nothing after his retirement, which I suspect Wade would also do for the Heat.
Since James left the team in 2014, Wade has played on 1 year contracts. He did this not to give himself an exit strategy as some have accused him of. This was to give Pat Riley and the Heat flexibility to compete on the court and during free agency.
At the ages of 32, 33, and 34 with a bit of an injury history it is quite risky to gamble with your financial security. But he did that for the team he had thought was a family.
It was Wade's right to make sure he was compensated adequately and after a few moves he finally was, by his hometown Chicago Bulls.
I'm sure Riley and Heat owner Mickey Arison will send well wishes and as soon as Wade retires they will hang his #3 in the American Airlines Arena and embrace him as the cornerstone of their franchise, but will regret not doing it during his 13 years there.
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