When it came to the business of basketball, Dwyane Wade and Pat Riley just didn’t see eye to eye. Wade was a free agent during the biggest spending spree in NBA history, had given up money in the past to allow the Heat to sign pricey players like LeBron James and Chris Bosh, and this time around he wanted to get paid accordingly.
Riley wanted Wade to return but didn’t want to give him the money he was asking for. So Wade left to join the Chicago Bulls on a two-year, $47.5 million deal, and Riley is now left to deal with the aftermath of losing the Miami Heat’s singular franchise icon.
But business is business, and despite their breakup, Wade still thinks highly of Riley and believes that their relationship will always be strong. From the Miami Herald’s Ethan Skolnick:
“There’s going to be a lot of stuff that’s said about me and Pat. First and foremost, I love Pat Riley. He’s been someone who has been a figurehead in my life since I got drafted here at 21. But at the same time, he has a job to do. He has a different hat to wear. That hat sometimes is not to be my best friend. That hat is to be the president of the organization, and to be a businessman. And it sucks. Because you love somebody so well, you guys love each other, but the business side comes out. You know? And we have to deal with that. I’m not saying we’ve hugged and cried and shared tears at this moment. But I love Pat. And I will always love Pat. And I know he feels the same way about me.”
You really can’t say it any better than that, and you have to admire Wade for approaching what could be a very bitter situation with this kind of empathy, at least publicly.
Courtesy: CBS Sports
