If Dwyane Wade could return to any one year of his career, he says it would be when he played for the Chicago Bulls. After all, he grew up watching the Bulls and Michael Jordan play. However, this wasn’t his plan in the beginning. The Flash believed he would play only for the Miami Heat, where he had spent more than a decade. So what led the champ to join the Bulls after LeBron James’s betrayal?

During the Underground Lounge podcast, the Miami Heat legend recalled the time when King James was about to leave the Heat. Wade mentioned about receiving a lot of calls urging him to convince James to stay. However, the Lakers star had already made up his mind and went to the Cavaliers. “Our city hasn’t had that feeling in a long, long, long time. My goal is still to win as many titles as possible, no question. But what’s most important for me is bringing one trophy back to Northeast Ohio,” James had said. 

It was his sports agent Rich Paul who convinced him to join the Heat. And this is where it all began. The Flash, who had initially made sacrifices in 2010 so the Heat could form the Big Three, was no longer getting any calls. “When Bron left and went back to Cleveland like I was getting all the calls trying to get him to stay okay soon as he went back the phone stopped ringing nobody could pick up their phone no more because now he went back and now it’s free agent time so first thing happened when Bron left, CB got maxed out,” he said.

He added that while Chris Bosh was given a max contract, he was kept waiting. “I’m at a point where I’m not prepared to go on free agency we not prepared for anything!” he added.  In 2014, Wade chose to opt out and sign a two-year, $31.1 million contract with a player option. It was the silence and Heat prioritizing other players before him that made Wade feel that he wasn’t getting respect that he deserved.

“I actually brought the Arison into my home…we can negotiate this ourselves. This is what I want so I wanted three-year deal to take me out I wanted a certain amount of money and they wouldn’t do it they wanted to be big players in free agency and they wanted to go out to Kevin Durant,” Wade said.

He was upset that the Heat prioritized re-signing Hassan Whiteside and pursuing Kevin Durant over him. A year later, he opted out again and signed a one-year, $20 million deal for the 2015-16 season. And finally, he decided to join the Bulls.

Dwyane Wade chose the Miami Heat over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“Once you get to this place right here where it’s like egos and pride and your emotions in it ain’t no conversation, ain’t no money that they can throw at you that’s going to bring you back,” Wade said on the podcast. And despite the Miami Heat offering a good deal to Wade after he became a free agent, he chose the Bulls.

Wade had a great run teaming up with Jimmy Butler. He was happy to play for the Chicago Bulls and also expressed gratitude for the time he was able to spend with his agent, Henry Thomas, before his passing. However, his time with the Bulls was short. 

Once again, he had a chance to return to the Miami Heat, but he decided against it and joined the Cavaliers instead. “It took me a little while to get out. I ain’t gonna lie to y’all I could have came back to Miami after Chicago but I was like, ‘Nah, I ain’t there yet,’” Wade said on The OGs podcast. Over time, Wade was able to reconcile with the Heat. Finally, in 2018, he reunited with Miami. The franchise later honored Wade with his statue, and the rest is history.