‘Coercing’ LeBron James Into $14,500,000 Decision, ‘Irritated’ Dwyane Wade Reveals He Was Fed Up With Kobe Bryant Winning Rings

The 2009-2010 season saw Kobe Bryant win his fifth championship as a Los Angeles Laker. A huge moment for one of the greatest the game has ever seen. But, at the time, seeing him celebrate his success did not sit well with everyone. This was especially true for Dwyane Wade. Playing for the Miami Heat, Flash had only one ring at the time. So, seeing his idol Kobe win five, he got on the phone. And, as revealed on the Skweek Show, he called LeBron James who was scheduled to earn $14,500,000 in the 2010-2011 season, and coerced him to come to Miami.

At the time, D-Wade, as mentioned previously, had only one ring to his name. Winning a chip back in 2006, he did so under the iron fist of Pat Riley. Upon King James’ arrival in South Beach, there were rumors of Riley stepping down as franchise President and returning to coach. However, Wade was not ready for this, and on Club Shay Shay, he revealed that he had warned LeBron about what a hard taskmaster Coach Riley was.

Dwyane Wade coerced LeBron James to join the Heat after watching Kobe Bryant win his fifth ring

Around the time of his Hall of Fame induction, Dwyane Wade sat down with soccer legend Thierry Henry and his fellow inductees for an interview. Surrounded by some of his biggest rivals, Tony Parker, Pau Gasol, and Dirk Nowitzki, D-Wade recounted how he recruited LeBron James to the Miami Heat. Particularly, how Kobe Bryant was the reason behind the decision.

He remembers how the 2009-2010 season ended with the Black Mamba lifting his fifth NBA Championship. It was a sight that annoyed the Miami Heat star, who decided he needed to do something about it. So, he called King James, as at the time, they collectively had just one ring between them.

Simply asking LeBron what his plans were, was more than enough for Wade to get him to join the Heat. It was a game-changing move and one that changed the league forever. Joining the team alongside Chris Bosh, Bron spent four seasons in Miami, reaching the NBA Finals all four years, and winning two championships.

“I watched Kobe Bryant grab the ball and celebrate, I was like, “LeBron! So what you gonna do?”. That was our summer of free agency. They were dominating, Kobe was winning all these rings. Like hold on, now he got five and we’ve got one? No!. So yeah, it changed the league.”

One can only imagine what the league would have looked like if Wade had not made that call. So, in many ways, Miami Heat fans have Kobe Bean Bryant to thank, for the four years they had with the Heatles.

D-Wade admits he had to learn to take a backseat and allow LeBron to be the driver

Despite creating the “Big Three”, the Miami Heat fell short of expectations during the 2010-2011 season. While they did make it to the NBA Finals, they fell short of Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks. The following off-season saw a lot of discussion surrounding the future of the team and the direction they were heading.

It is here, that Dwyane Wade realized he needed to take a step back. As he told Shannon Sharpe, till that point, the Miami Heat were his team. But, he realized that in order to succeed and win championships, it needed to be LeBron James’ team. So, he decided to hand The King the keys to the kingdom.

A smart decision on D-Wade’s part. After all, once King James was at the helm, the Heat went off. Winning two back-to-back championships, Miami established itself as a perennial contender under his reign.