It had to start with him. Back in 2010, before Miami’s Big 3 even existed, this was the vision Dwyane Wade had. “It’s going to be fit with me first,” he said. “I’ve made that very clear. Do I want to leave? Nope. Mmm-hmm. I want to be in Miami. That’s where it starts.” Unlike other stars looking for the best team to join, Wade flipped the script. He stayed put and searched for the best players to come to him.

But Wade wasn’t about to go on a full-blown recruiting tour. “I don’t do recruiting. Not now, anyway,” he explained. “I’ll gauge and see if guys want to be [in Miami], who wants to be with me?” And you know what happened next. LeBron James and Chris Bosh answered the call, forming the Miami Heat’s Big 3. Over the next four years, they dominated, winning two NBA championships, four Eastern Conference titles, and securing the Southeast Division every season.

But behind all that success, there was “scrappy summer” and Arlesha Amazan, Wade’s longtime employee. 2010 was the year she joined his management team, and she had no idea what she was stepping into.

“I got the call in 2010, giving a heads up to a very crazy and busy summer, which unbeknownst to me would be free agency,” she recalled. “And we all know what happened… LeBron, Chris Bosh coming down to Dwyane Wade.” That summer wasn’t just the start of the Big 3—it was the start of her career. So what exactly did she do? Pretty much everything. “Like I said, 2010 was a crazy time. It was a crazy time,” she emphasized. “I got scrappy. A lot of the time was spent on researching, working and crafting up press releases.”

And just like that, the pieces fell into place. “And then the other stuff that happened, you all saw it come to fruition, but I did anything and everything that I had to do. It was a very scrappy summer.” But 2010 wasn’t just about Heat’s Big 3—Wade also made waves off the court. He signed with Jordan Brand, only to leave in 2012 without even telling Michael Jordan. And guess what, Arlesha was there, helping Wade.

Dwyane Wade becomes Michael Jordan by leaving him

Back in 2012, Dwyane Wade made a bold move—he left Nike’s Jordan Brand to sign with Chinese shoemaker Li-Ning. And he never told Michael Jordan.

“So I didn’t personally talk to MJ about it, but Nike and all the Jordan guys that I have a relationship with, they kinda knew the direction I was goin’ in,” Wade revealed in an interview with Complex. At the same time, Arlesha Amazan was running marketing for D.Wade Enterprises, playing a key role in shaping his next big move. But why did Wade walk away from Jordan Brand? He was following MJ’s own blueprint.

“Jordan set the blueprint for all of us. There’s no reason to try to change it.” He saw how Jordan built his own empire under Nike and realized instead of staying under the Jordan umbrella, he could carve out his own legacy.

And that’s exactly what he did. In 2018, Wade doubled down, signing a lifetime contract with Li-Ning. And that deal put him in rare company—alongside his idol Michael Jordan and his former teammate LeBron James—as one of only three basketball players with lifetime apparel contracts. Recently, Nike even added Kevin Durant to that exclusive list.

Now, with an estimated net worth of $170 million, it’s safe to say Wade made the right call. And behind the scenes, Arlesha Amazan was there helping him to turn his vision into reality.