Best friends LeBron James and Dwyane Wade got together a lot this summer to hang out after the long NBA season that saw James’ Cavs win the NBA Championship. At one point during early July, Wade, who was an unrestricted free agent, was reportedly strongly considering joining James and the Cavs for a run at a championship. However, it would have been for far less than what he could have made in places like Miami or Chicago.
In a recent interview with SLAM, Wade revealed that his decision didn’t come to money, but to being the right fit. He even said that he did consider the Cleveland Cavaliers as an option and spoke on why he didn’t choose his best friend in LeBron James and the Cavs.
“For me, it’s as simple as, I got a deal in Miami for $41 million, I got a deal in Chicago for $47 million,” Wade says. “It didn’t come down to the money. I thought about Cleveland, but I didn’t fit there. You don’t just do something because, Oh, I could win the ring there. I have three rings. I don’t need to chase the ring. This is what I wanted to do. I couldn’t fight it. If you fight it, you’re gonna always be like, You shoulda, or, What could’ve—I don’t like to live my life like that.”
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If it really wasn’t about money for Wade, Chicago definitely made the most sense for him. Not only is it home, but he joins a hard-working group of guys lead by an up-and-coming Jimmy Butler as well as proven all-star Rajon Rondo.
More importantly, the Cavs needed more versatile floor-spacers as opposed to slashers. Their acquisition of Mike Dunleavy will prove to be far greater than what a Dwyane Wade signing could have brought to the Cavs.
