​LAS VEGAS — Dwyane Wade said he knew it was the right moment to walk away from the NBA. The Miami Heat icon explained why he’s grateful that it isn’t that moment for his former Heat teammate LeBron James, who remains in play for the Heat and several other suitors during NBA free agency. “We should appreciate what I’m and what we all are witnessing, because we’ve never seen this before,” Wade said on his podcast network. “It has to sting a little to reach this stage in your career and still be really good. I got to a point where I thought, ‘I’m not that good anymore. I can still play, I can still go out there and perform, but I won’t be that good.’ So it was easy for me to decide to walk away.” Wade retired from the NBA in 2019 as a member of the Heat at 37.
James is 41 and just finished an All-Star season, with the NBA awaiting his next destination. Wade continued, “It’s hard to make that decision when you’re still really (expletive) good. Who walks away while you’re that good? Not many. There aren’t a lot of Barry Sanders who just walk away at the peak.” As James remains at the center of ongoing Greatest of All-Time debates, Wade argued there’s no reason he shouldn’t be fielding offers to stay in the game. “And you’re talking about a guy who’s been doing this his entire life. This is what he knows better than anyone because he’s been playing this game forever. He’s become this generation’s GOAT, so how do you walk away from being a GOAT when you’re still a GOAT?”
Another prominent suitor could be the Cleveland Cavaliers, which would bring James back to his home region and to a team that guided him to the 2016 NBA title. Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson commented during the ongoing NBA Summer League that it only makes sense for free agency to be on hold while everyone awaits James’s decision. “Listen,” Atkinson said on SiriusXM, “this is an exciting time for us, right? We’re in the mix for the greatest player of all time, in my opinion. It’s exciting. You might be nervous, but we understand how it is. Obviously he’s earned the right to take his time.”
While there has been little public comment from the Heat, the recruitment has been more visible elsewhere, including a pitch from Golden State forward Draymond Green, with the Warriors cited as a team on James’s list. The Heat’s Keels and Young are competing for the same job during summer league, and Ware is preparing for a reset in moving from the Heat to the Bucks, describing it as “more of a chance to flourish.” ASK IRA raised questions about whether the Heat’s approach with Bam Adebayo as a favored son has generated pushback. Norman Powell discussed his departure from the Heat on the day the team fell to the Magic, a note tied to a broader discussion of the franchise’s SEO and public messaging in the post-Legacy era.