In the brief history of their franchise, the Miami Heat are largely defined by the three championships Dwyane Wade led them to, with two of them coming during the “Big Three” era. However, according to Wade, the team's history was days away from being altered in the 2010 offseason.
“I was actually leaving Miami at that time,” Wade said on The OGs Show. “I didn't think that nobody out there that [the Heat] could get was going to get us to that [championship] level… For me, my hometown team could win. So I was like, ‘Man, I'm going back home. I'm going to Chicago. I played seven years here, I won a championship, it's time.'… But I got that call, man. I got that call from number six.”
The star guard was 28 at the time and would have teamed up with Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer in his hometown. Instead, the Heat and Bulls would become rivals for the next handful of years as two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
“The OGs Show” is hosted by Wade's former teammates, Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller, both of whom were on the Heat's 2012 and 2013 championship rosters. Wade and Haslem were famously teammates for most of each others' careers after joining Miami at the same time. Haslem's 20 years with the team is a franchise record that is unlikely to be broken.
Wade's admission to nearly leaving the Heat for Chicago in 2010 would end up being a sign of things to come. The 2006 NBA Finals MVP would eventually leave the team for the Bulls six years later after failed negotiations with the front office.
Heat honor Dwyane Wade with statue on Oct. 27
While James is the most talented player to ever put on a Miami Heat jersey, Wade is undeniably the greatest player in franchise history. As such, the Heat not only retired Wade's No. 3 jersey but honored the 42-year-old with a statue that was unveiled in front of the Kaseya Center on Oct. 27.
Unfortunately for all involved, the statue went viral on social media in a way that only haunts a sculptor's dreams. The statue was brutally mocked for its appearance, with most believing that it held zero resemblance to Wade. Regardless, Wade was thankful for the gesture and grateful to have the moment.
The statue was meant to immortalize Wade's iconic “my house” moment, which became his signature celebration. Ironically, the birth of the “my house” celebration came against the Bulls, when Wade hit a game-tying three-pointer with 11 seconds remaining before nailing a game-winning runner in double overtime after ripping the ball away from John Salmons.
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