Dwyane Wade’s NBA legacy spanning 16 seasons has a larger allegiance to the Miami Heat. Having played 14 seasons with the franchise, garnering 3 rings, and 13 All-Star titles, it is no wonder that the team also honored him with the jersey No. 3 retirement and the Kaseya Center Statue. Despite this association, a single season played with the Chicago Bulls, his home city team, still stands special for the 3x Champion, as revealed through this Bulls’ big moment. 

In case you haven’t noticed ‘The Windy City’ now celebrates its 30 years at the United Center Arena, where it battles hometown games. In its latest bash, they went ahead celebrating their players who have been part of UC Arena since its inception on their IG handle.

Here, they shared a collage of the players alongside the caption: “30 years of history at the United Center. Which player made you a Bulls fan? 👀.” Since this elicited an excited response from ‘D-Wade’ including a “So Dope” praise, your curiosity is worth having.

To begin with ‘Father Prime’ comment on the Bulls’ post: “It’s so dope to be apart of my hometown teams history 🙏🏾.” Adding to fans’ excitement he shared the post on his IG story and wrote, “I still can’t believe I played a season back home. @chicagobulls.” 

At this point, you might be struggling to find Wade on the collage since it has overwhelming players. While it places the likes of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen at the center, Wade could be located center-left slightly beneath the center line. This could poke the fan within you to explore his role within the franchise. 

It was the 2016-17 NBA Season when Wade was welcomed to the Bulls after playing 13 consecutive seasons for the Heat. His first game against the Boston Celtics is memorable for a moment when ‘the Flash’ paused to take a knee before being heralded to the hard floor in the starting lineup.

“Took that knee to just thank the Lord and hear the cheers in the crowd and take in a moment,” said the then 34-year-old legend about that moment. As respectful as it was, Dwyane Wade justified the Bulls’ choice by making 22 points as a Shooting Guard in a game the Bulls won 105-99. His 3-pointer with 26.3 seconds left alongside a 7-for-18 from the field was decisive then.

Does this mean he led the Bulls that season? Here are some insights on his time with his former team. 

Wade’s season with the Bulls

Regardless of a spectacular beginning, Wade had an uneventful season with the Chicago Bulls. It saw 1,096 points from the Hall of Famer. This could be seen as bleak considering his highest of 2,386 points from 2008-09 with Heat. Moreover, points averaging 18.3 was way below his career best of 30.2 ppg and a career average of 22 ppg. 

Indeed, such a performance was later regretted by Dwyane Wade as he confesses in a 7 PM in Brooklyn podcast hosted by Carmelo Anthony, “So I set a bad precedent. I apologize, Jimmy Butler was on that team, so he probably picked up some bad habits from me. I was old. I was a military baby for 14 years, I’ve got one year to get out and stretch my arms, I was like, ‘I’m about to take advantage.’ So I wasn’t really a good vet to those guys, I apologize,” said the legend on how he took the Bulls’ liberal training environment for granted. 

Even with such scores and confessions, it was emotionally overwhelming for the legend to wear the Bulls’ jersey. “I’ve been waiting on that moment for a long time, I know it was special, obviously, for my family who was here. They’ve been waiting on it probably just as long,” said the Harold L. Richards alum after his first game with the franchise. 

Now that the team itself has recognized Wade’s role in its history, it seems that the burden of his failures from nearly a decade ago has eased while making him humble.