Dwyane Wade not only established himself as the third-best shooting guard in NBA history during his playing career, but he also made a heck of a lot of money while doing it.
Per Spotrac, Wade made $196,388,473 through NBA contracts during his Hall of Fame playing career.
The first contract Wade signed in the NBA was back in 2003 after the Miami Heat selected him with the fifth overall pick out of Marquette. D-Wade averaged 16.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists as a rookie while making $2,636,400. His rookie deal was worth $8.5 million over three years.
During his second season in the NBA, Dwyane Wade increased his scoring average to 24.1 points and made his first All-Star team. Miami was a title contender in Wade's second season in the league due to Shaquille O'Neal's arrival to South Beach. Shaq wound up giving Wade the nickname “Flash” and the Chicago native never looked back.
In his third season in the league, Wade guided the Heat to the franchise's first championship. He averaged 28.4 points in the 2006 playoffs and won the Finals MVP after leading Miami to the title over the Dallas Mavericks.
Wade made only $3,031,920 that season but he was setting himself up for a lucrative rookie-scale extension.
In July of 2006, the Heat signed Dwyane Wade to a three-year, $43.2 million rookie-scale extension. The contract kicked in during the 2007-08 season. Wade made $13,041,250 that year and averaged 24.6 points. However, he only appeared in 49 games.
In the summer of 2010, Wade took a pay cut which allowed the Heat to sign LeBron James and Chris Bosh. D-Wade signed a six-year, $107.2 million contract with the Heat. He made $14,000,000 in the first year of the Big 3 era. The Heat lost to the Mavs in the Finals but rebounded nicely by winning two titles in a row in 2012 and 2013.
Dwyane Wade made $12,485,268 in 2011-12, $17,182,000 in 2012-13 and $18,673,000 in 2013-14. LeBron went back to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the summer of 2014 after Miami lost the 2014 Finals to the Spurs. The Heat followed that up by giving Bosh a five-year, $118 million contract.
Once again, Wade was taking a pay cut. He re-signed with Miami on a two-year, $31.12 million contract, fully expecting to be taken care of down the road.
However, that promise wasn't kept by Pat Riley in the summer of 2016. It wound up leading to Dwyane Wade leaving the Heat and signing with his hometown Chicago Bulls on a two-year, $47 million deal.
Wade and Riley's relationship was bad at the time and D-Wade decided to get back at the Hall of Famer by joining the Bulls.
Wade averaged 18.3 points per game in one season with the Bulls. Chicago went to the playoffs but lost to the Boston Celtics in the first round in six games after taking a 2-0 series lead. Wade made $23,200,000 in 2016-17 and then agreed to a buyout with the Bulls in the summer of 2017 after Chicago traded Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Wade earned $38,750,000 in total cash with the Bulls.
After his lone campaign with Chicago, Dwyane Wade signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the summer of 2017 on a one-year, $2.3 million contract. Wade was back with LeBron.
However, Flash only played 46 games with the Cavs before Cleveland traded him to the Heat, the team he never should have left in the first place.
Wade and Riley made up and all was well again in South Beach. Father Prime signed a one-year, $2.4 million contract with Miami before the start of the 2018-19 season. He also announced that it was going to be his final year in the NBA.
The fashion in which Wade ended his NBA career was epic. Not only did he record a triple-double against the Brooklyn Nets, but Wade's best friends were courtside. LeBron, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony made the trip to the Barclays Center to watch Dwyane Wade play his final game in the NBA.
Wade is the best player in Miami franchise history. He won three titles in South Beach and finished his career with averages of 22.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists.
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