Dwyane Wade‘s time in Chicago did not necessarily go according to plan. The future Hall of Fame shooting guard played well at times but ended up negotiating a buyout and, prior to that, had a high-profile blow-up with Jimmy Butler in which the duo criticized teammates and the squad as a whole.
With that said, it isn’t as if Wade burned bridges on the way out of town and, in fact, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune brings word that young players from the Bulls were positively impacted by the veteran’s presence.
Former first round pick Bobby Portis indicated that Wade was a “great leader” during his time in Chicago.
“He was a great leader for us. He came in every day to work. When I came in at nighttime, I’d see him here, him and Jimmy. He showed us hard work and things like that. Especially in the playoffs, he even revved it up more. And when our team gets back to playoff mode, that’s something I will take from him. And it will help some of the other guys.”
Portis also insisted that “everything is cool” despite the incident in January and he attributed it to run-of-the-mill “troubles during the season.” Beyond that, Nikola Mirotic echoed the same sentiment.
“We never had any conflict with Dwyane. Just after that game, they had some tough declarations, Jimmy and D-Wade. But that was all. It’s a part of the game. They were hot. There was disappointment about the game. We all understand. But inside the locker room and with the practices, they’ve been terrific with us. So there’s nothing to complain.”
It has to be noted that this may not be the sentiment of everyone but, in the same breath, Wade (and Butler) not getting along with teammates may have been overblown by one incident. Regardless, it is now water under the bridge as he teams up with old pal LeBron James in Cleveland but it is a notch in the positive column for his reputation with teammates to hear this kind of sentiment.
(Via Chicago Times)
