LeBron James’ 2010 ‘The Decision’ was one of the major turning points in his pronounced NBA career. With him and Chris Bosh joining the Miami Heat, they had formed a ‘Big 3’ for the franchise, capable of title contention after the Heat’s maiden 2006 championship win. However, to accommodate these two players, Dwyane Wade had taken a $17,000,000 pay cut from his Heat salary. In his book ‘A Father First’, Wade mentioned how his growing maturity with age led him to decide to share the stage with LBJ and Chris Bosh.
Advertisement
The Miami Heat, with D-Wade, Chris Bosh, and LeBron James was no less than a super-team. Though this move granted James his maiden NBA title, many fans saw his shift to South Beach as a betrayal to his home-side franchise Cleveland Cavaliers. But definitely, LBJ does not regret his ‘decision’ given his stint at Miami pedaled him to the position of one of the greatest players.
Dwyane Wade cited his growing maturity with age as a reason to accommodate LeBron James and Chris Bosh
At the time when LeBron James and Chris Bosh arrived in Miami, Dwyane Wade was entangled in a nasty custody of his children battle with his ex-wife Siovaughn Funches. Amidst this chaos, Dwyane Wade was anticipating the arrival of LeBron James and Chris Bosh in the Heat to form the ‘Big 3’ alongside him.
In his book, Wade admitted that his younger self would have never let the limelight get away from him with the presence of other stars. However, by the time James and Bosh arrived, D-Wade was 29. He was much wiser and more mature as a person and grew to understand the value of playing with a ‘super-team’. Here is an excerpt from his book which describes Wade’s emotions at that time.
“Wedged in between that drama and the actual custody trial that was set to begin in early September, all of the decision making had come to pass for the arrivals of LeBron and Chris in Miami. In such stark contrast to everything else that was happening, I was pumped with anticipation. The younger me wouldn’t have been able to share the stage with a LeBron James. The need to prove that I could still be the face and have someone come in and follow me would have been too great. But when you get older, as I was at almost twenty-nine, you understand what it takes to win, what it takes for a team to go the distance. That mattered more.”
Wade had made an ultimate sacrifice to accommodate two star players by taking a $17,000,000 pay cut from his salary. In the end, all of it worked out as Miami contended for the championship four years in a row. Wade’s sacrifice had contributed to creating a squad with elite chemistry and depth as a team.
The 2012 and 2013 Finals were special for the Big 3, as the formidable trio overwhelmed the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs to win two NBA chips in a row.
LeBron James stopped talking to Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh during his crucial ‘The Decision’
When LeBron James was entering free agency at the end of the 2009-10 season, everyone in the NBA community betted about his next destination. At that time, James had created an enigmatic personality around himself regarding his next big step in basketball. Like everyone else, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade were also in the cloud about LBJ’s decision, whether he was to stay in Cleveland or move elsewhere to find newer challenges.
The process towards ‘The Decision’ had gotten quite serious. LBJ had stopped talking to everyone, including D-Wade and Bosh. The Heat stars were as clueless as everybody else regarding the mystery behind LeBron’s next team. Hence, when Bron announced he was taking his talents to South Beach, the decision kept everyone, including Wade and Bosh, on the edge of their seats.
