Dwyane Wade wrapped up his prolific NBA career last season, going through One Last Dance with the Miami Heat before retiring. It seems safe to assume that Wade will still pop up in the world of basketball for a long, long time, but it’s not going to be with a uniform on.
Retiring lets Wade pursue plenty of off-court interests, but as he explained to Rohan Nadkarni of Sports Illustrated, that’s not what the future Hall of Fame inductee has enjoyed the most about retired life. Wade explained that, more than anything, retiring has let his basketball career come full-circle.
“Just feeling complete,” Wade said. “Everyone is different. Some people don’t think championships make their career. Some people don’t think All-Star games or Olympic teams make them complete. For me, besides an Olympic gold medal which I never really dreamed of, I wanted to be a champion. I needed that for my career to be complete. I needed to show the world who I was as a basketball player, I needed that time where I didn’t have help. I needed everything about the game and I feel like I accomplished everything I wanted to. With that being said, I walk away just smiling and happy with what I did in that phase of my life. I got so much more life left so now I’m focused on what can I accomplish in this life. ”
As for whether or not a return to the game is in the cards, Wade told Nadkarni that if, say, his old pal LeBron James came calling about a spot in Los Angeles, he’d decline and say, “I’m sure there’s somebody in the NBA highly capable.” Perhaps he gets the itch to hoop once the season rolls around, but it seems safe to assume that won’t happen.
