Dwyane Wade is not playing basketball in China.
The free-agent guard, who has not committed to playing a 16th NBA season, said Saturday he will only play next year with the Miami Heat.
“If I’m playing the game of basketball this year, it’ll be in a Miami uniform,” Wade said at the Jr. NBA World Championships, per Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press.
Wade added that there is “no clock” for him to decide whether he’s playing next season. According to ESPN.com, the CBA’s Zhejiang Golden Bulls reportedly offered Wade a three-year, $25 million contract in July.
Wade has played 13-and-a-half of his 15 NBA seasons in Miami. He said after being traded to the Heat from the Cleveland Cavaliers in February that he did not want to play for another franchise.
“At this point for me, sitting here, contemplating on playing the game of basketball, my only vision as I sit here today is playing in a Miami Heat uniform,” Wade said in June on Fox Sports Radio’s Chris and Caron.
Heat president Pat Riley has said he wants Wade back with the team next season.
“I want him back as a player,” Riley told reporters. “I want him back as a competitor. I want him back as a guy who wants to have the greatest year he ever had as a player. I read more articles about ‘Dwyane being done, he’s lost a step, he’s not the same player, he might not have the same motivation.’ But I still see a player who can contribute heavily if he really wants to.”
Wade averaged 12.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 21 games after returning to Miami. He did not start a single game but played an instrumental role off the bench, including outbursts of 28 and 25 points in Miami’s first-round series against Philadelphia.
Courtesy: Bleacher Report
