Back in 2010, the Miami Heat bought the NBA’s two biggest stars in the form of LeBron James and Chris Both to form a “big 3.” Alongside Dwyane Wade, the trio helped the franchise to 4 straight NBA Finals, winning the championship in 2012 and 13. However, in his 2012 book, A Father First, Wade revealed that he had to take a $17,000,000 pay decrease in order to accommodate the other two stars. Wade showed no regret over his decision and claimed he did the right thing for his team.
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The trio of Wade, LeBron and Chris Bosh proved to be one of the most dominating ones of this era. The three stars would not have been able to play together had it not been for Dwyane Wade’s big sacrifice.
Dwyane Wade underwent huge sacrifice to accommodate LeBron and Chris Bosh on the Miami Heat
According to Business Insider, Wade would have made around $17 million more had it not been for Chris Bosh and LeBron James. This is something he mentioned in his book as well.
Wade claimed that he had no regrets and had already proved himself as the team’s big star in the two seasons before. Furthermore, he claimed that the decision was also right for his body, and led to a historic run for the Miami Heat:
“For me to have held on and continued to be the only face of the Heat would have been selfish and not productive for the whole team. Plus it’s hard. It’s hard on the body—well, my body for sure—and it’s hard mentally. Besides, I had proven myself over the last two seasons. What else did I need to put in the history books on my own? If I wanted to keep winning and on a consistent basis, I couldn’t do it by myself. Plain and simple. And if I had to give $17 million back on my last contract to get LeBron James and Chris Bosh to come so we could have an opportunity to succeed for everyone, that’s what I was going to do. Selfishly, I could have taken all the money but we wouldn’t have had the team. And vice versa with the other two.”
The Heat ended up winning their 2nd and 3rd championships in history in 2012 and 2013. This was after Wade had starred alongside Shaquille O’Neal in their 2006 championship run.
Dwyane Wade’s sacrifice made him the lowest earner among Maimi Heat’s big 3
Wade earned an average salary of around $14 million during these 4 seasons, according to Sportrac. His salary made him the lowest earner on the Heat despite his history with the franchise.
Both Chris Bosh and LeBron James earned more than $18 million during these seasons. There is little doubt that the two moves would not have been possible had it not been for Wade’s sacrifice.
Considering he was able to add 2 further rings to his 1 championships, it will be fair to say he will be happy with the decision. Wade had already proven his credentials as a top star and obviously needed help for everything the team was able to achieve.
