Dwyane Wade’s illustrious NBA career came to an end on Wednesday night in a 113-94 loss to the Brooklyn Nets. Because the game took place in New York one night after a handful of teams saw their seasons come to an end, the entire Banana Boat crew were able to attend the game. LeBron James and Chris Paul flew in for the occasion, while Carmelo Anthony lives in the city.
It was cool seeing the trio come out for Wade, who had a triple-double on the evening. After the game was over, Wade picked out Anthony to do the jersey swap that has become a tradition for the future Hall of Fame inductee during his retirement tour.
Wade was asked why Anthony, who is currently an unrestricted free agent, got this honor, and in his eyes, pick Anthony over a member of the Nets only made sense.
“I didn’t get an opportunity to play against Melo this year and exchange jerseys with him,” Wade said, according to NBA.com. “That was a missing piece out of this whole season, so everything worked out great for him being here, for me having an opportunity to give him my jersey.”
Wade had already done jersey swaps with James and Paul — the former in November, the latter in February. Anthony, meanwhile, last appeared in a game in early-November before his time with the Houston Rockets came to an end, and since then, he’s been looking for another opportunity. Wade said the Rockets scapegoated Anthony at the end of his tenure with the franchise.
