SEPTEMBER 16, 2018
MIAMI-Dwyane Wade announed that he’s returning to the Miami Heat for a 16th and final NBA season. He announced Sunday night in a 10 minute video entitled “One Last Dance…” taped earlier in the day. He thought about retiring, but he wants to give it one more try. After going from Chicago to Cleveland for a year or so, he told NBA TV’s Grant Hill in February he would play out his career in South Beach.
“I’ve always did things my way,” said Wade, who is expected to sign a $2.4 million, one-year deal later this week. “Whether they’ve been good or whether they’ve been bad, I got here because I’ve done things the way that I feel is right for me and right for my family. And what I feel is right — I feel it’s right to ask you guys to join me for one last dance, for one last season.
“Can I physically do it? Can I physically get out of bed every day to do this? Can I deal with every step hurting in the morning? Can I deal with the travel? Can I be away from my family? Is it selfish for me to want to continue to be away from my family?” Wade said, listing questions that he pondered when making his decision.
“These things to you guys may seem small,” Wade said. “But to me, they’re real. I feel like my family have put me first for so many years, for good reasons. But there comes a point in time when we’ve all got to think about someone else, especially the ones around you that have supported you, supported your dreams, supported your journey like my family have.”
Wade’s return basically means that Miami will have the same team as last year, but Wade be be there from the start. The Heat went 44-38 and claimed the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs last year. With Wade all season, the Heat may go deeper into the postseason. Wade now has an opportunity to put the finishing touches on a Hall of Fame career. The 12-time All-Star already has three championships, an NBA Finals MVP and a scoring crown, to name a few. He also owns just about every Heat record a guard could reasonably obtain. This will be Wade’s one last dance to destiny.
