In a recent appearance on the ‘7PM in Brooklyn’ podcast with Carmelo Anthony, NBA legend Dwyane Wade got real on the resistance to his partnership with LeBron James and Chris Bosh. According to Wade, nobody wanted them to come together at the time, and by all linking up on the Heat they essentially went against the wishes of everyone across the league.
“I wanted those Larry O’Brien trophies, man. I already had done and I knew that feeling like, ‘I gotta get that again man.’ And so I knew that it was the best moment in my career to put myself in that position again. LeBron is an amazing player and you have to work around him to work with him… But nobody wanted it. My team didn’t want it, my family didn’t want it — they were pissed. Bron’s team didn’t want it. No one wanted that to happen. The game of basketball didn’t want it to happen. So I made sure I linked myself to LeBron because I knew we had to be so tight or it was gonna be a failure.”
After spending his first seven seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James (a 4x NBA champion) encountered a major crossroads in his career. As a free agent in the summer of 2010, his potential exit from the Cavs was massive news at the time and when he finally did announce his decision to join the Heat it sent the entire basketball world into a frenzy of outrage.
From the fans’ perspective, LeBron bailed on his original franchise in order to take the “easy way out” by teaming up with stars to chase his first championship. The “big three” in Miami became a new dynasty overnight and ruled the Eastern Conference until LeBron’s departure four years later.
For James, now 39, he had several options on the table that summer. Besides re-joining the Cavaliers or moving to South Beach, LeBron was also courted by the Bulls and Knicks who each tried (and failed) to lure the basketball legend to their franchise. After forging a friendship with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, LeBron didn’t take long to make a commitment to the Heat and he eventually led them to back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013.
Ultimately, the Heat would end up just being a quick stop for LeBron and he’d return to the Cavaliers to fulfill his promise to bring them a championship. Even so, his “decision” that summer changed the NBA forever and it caused a level of outrage that has only been matched by Kevin Durant’s move to the Warriors in 2016.
As for why Wade’s family was against the move, only they can say for sure. As the face of the Heat for years, it’s possible that they felt LeBron’s arrival could disrupt Wade’s standing and power on the franchise. it’s also possible that they wanted Dwyane to maintain control as the “top dog” of the team.
Whatever the case, LeBron, Wade, and Bosh completely went against the grain that year and they came together in spite of everything trying to keep them apart. At the end of it, they became not just champions but legends of the NBA and formed a bond that will last a lifetime.
The “big three” were living proof that players who follow their hearts and choose their own happiness over the validation of others can achieve amazing success. And even though they aren’t together anymore, the legacy that LeBron, Wade, and Bosh built on that franchise will last forever and nobody can take away what they accomplished in those four years.
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