Dwyane Wade Says He Didn’t Try To Convince LeBron James To Re-Sign With Miami Heat

Dwyane Wade says he let LeBron James make his free agency decision on his own, rather than trying to recruit James to stay with the Miami Heat.

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Dwyane Wade recruited LeBron James to the Miami Heat in 2010. However, the three-time champion did not attempt to sell James on re-signing with the Heat in 2014.

Wade told Ethan Skolnick of Bleacher Report that despite being with LeBron the night before James announced his decision to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, he did not try to convince LeBron to return to Miami.

"Did Wade recruit James to stay?“No,” he said.(…)“That’s all I ever will be is Dwyane the friend,” Wade said. “Dwyane the teammate, I’m not that guy. I knew whenever it comes to somebody having to do what’s best for them, I’m always going to take myself out of it and give them the best advice I feel I can give. I’m not going to be biased and give them what I think is going to be best for me. I’m going to give them what I feel is best for them, and I’ve always been that way in any situation. I tried to be selfless. I took being his teammate out of it and I was just his friend. It was as simple as saying, ‘Do what’s best for LeBron James, because everybody is going to benefit from you. You stay in Miami, we benefit from you. Wherever you go, do what’s best for you, because wherever you play, somebody is going to benefit off of you. So you have to be happy with your situation.’ “"

While it wasn’t very wise from a basketball perspective for Wade, one has to give the Heat legend credit for simply being a friend to James during what was likely a difficult time for the four-time NBA MVP.

Also, the fact of the matter is that Wade’s recruiting likely wouldn’t have done much. As was evidenced in James’ announcement to sign with the Cavaliers in Sports Illustrated, LeBron badly wanted to go back to Cleveland. Wade wouldn’t have been able to change that.

LeBron and Wade were teammates in Miami for four years, winning two championships and making it to the NBA Finals in each season they were together.

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