Dwyane Wade will suit up in a different uniform for the first time in 13 years.
The iconic Chicago native will suit up for his hometown Bulls this season, ending a long on-court relationship with Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem, and the city of Miami.
“This community has been a part of me for 13 years. It's a part of me for that long; it's a part of me forever,” the All-Star guard told The Sun Sentinel's Ira Winderman at the conclusion of the six-mile D. Wade CommUNITY Bike Ride through Coconut Grove. “So I always want do what I can in different ways to help uplift certain communities that have been special and important to me.”
Wade was demonstrative, not only with his actions on and off the court, but with his words as well — thanking the fans through six different “Thank you” billboards that awaited him in his return to South Florida.
“There's so much you want to say. What are the most simple words, but what means the most, is just, ‘Thank you.' Just simply those words mean a lot,” he said of the billboards. “So it was something I was thinking about, coming back to Miami for the last time, before the season started.”
Perhaps the most tasking part of his free-agency decision was parting ways with his teammates, one in particular that was there for him since the start of it all.
“What I'm going to miss most is probably U.D., just my relationship with my brother,” Wade said of Haslem. “That's probably going to be the hardest thing for me, is not to have him by my side. For the last 13 years, he's been to my left or been to my right, not matter what happened.”
Wade and Haslem will be reunited on the court on Thursday, Nov. 10 when the Miami Heat host the Chicago Bulls. The game will be aired on TNT.
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