Dwyane Wade is one of the game’s greats. It might have only been less than 3 years since he called it quits but that is enough time for us to go back searching for stories on one of the 21st century’s greatest products. The Flash was a master of the game.
From footwork to speed to handles, he had it all. This is why he was able to win a ring before LeBron James. Wade’s legacy as a great has long been cemented but like everyone who is his mold, he wanted to do things differently.
Sure, there aren’t a lot of ways shooting guards can do things differently in the NBA. Not if the two greatest players happen to be shooting guards. What any player will do won’t be new if two legends of the game have virtually done everything.
Wade had to try something. So in a bid to reclaim his own status, he chose to ditch Michael Jordan’s brand and sign for a relative unknown. The reason? Well, there were 10,000,000 of them.
Dwyane Wade is lured by Li Ning for $10,000,000 to ditch Michael Jordan’s Jumpman
True story, D-Wade left the Jordan brand for more money. But the story that precedes that is perhaps a little more important. So, Wade started off his career with Converse, and for a while, things were going well.
He was blossoming into a great athlete in the NBA but of course, he wanted better things. Enter Jumpman or Jordan Brand. After Mike’s prolonged absence from the league, the company wanted a fresh set of faces to propel the brand.
They chose Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, and Dwyane Wade. Wade was the most illustrious among the three. By 2010, he was the only one with a ring and the brand poached him. It was seen as a coup.
Jordan even gave him his own signature sneaker, the Fly Wade. However, it wasn’t enough. Just two years after being signed on, Wade stunned the sneaker industry by changing ships.
He went to Li Ning for $10,000,000, signing an 8-year contract in the process. The contract would also give him equity and establish his Way of Wade as a brand for himself.
But before signing off with Li Ning, did he speak to the head honcho?
D-Wade didn’t even speak to Michael Jordan before leaving!
Yes, as per the man himself, he never directly spoke to Michael Jordan. Speaking to Russ Bengston from Complex, Wade had this to say:
“So I didn’t personally talk to MJ about it, but Nike and all the Jordan guys that I have a relationship with, they kinda knew the direction I was goin’ in. I didn’t leave on bad terms or anything; it was just something I had to do for myself. And hopefully, Michael understands that because Michael had to do his own thing as well. And that’s all I’m trying to do; I’m trying to create and build my own legacy in a sense, and I had an unbelievable opportunity to do it globally, differently than probably what Michael has done or what people are used to, in a sense. So I would hope that his viewpoint would be, ‘I can understand,'”
Talk about taking a different direction. We can surely appreciate Wade for his take. After all, nobody likes to be in anyone’s shadow.
