Wade happy with the way that the Heat have ‘recovered’ after loss of James…
Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade has revealed that he knew prior to LeBron James’ announcement that his team-mate and friend would be leaving the franchise.
Wade said on Friday that he could tell from the 29-year-old’s body language during their flight back from Las Vegas that he would not be coming back to the Heat next season, and his fears were confirmed when James opted to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier this month.
However, the Heat stalwart insists that he has no hard feelings over the situation given that the pair are such close friends, and ultimately he is supportive of the decision if James is happy with it.
“Yeah, I went to sleep knowing,” Wade told reporters. “He called me the next day. But I knew then. Obviously he still had to say the final yay or nay, but I knew. I could tell.”
“As his friend, I’m just supportive,” Wade added.
“As crazy as that might sound, I’m supportive of my friends doing what makes them happy. Obviously, same thing with him in this situation. You’ve gotta do what makes you happy — selfishly do what makes you happy. The decision to go back home was that.”
Wade went on to congratulate the Heat ownership on their ability to ‘recover’ as opposed to ‘replace’ James, and he is excited about the prospect of working with his new team-mates in the coming months with the ambition of keeping Miami competitive in the Eastern Conference.
As well as re-signing Wade, Chris Bosh, Chris Andersen, Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole, Heat president Pat Riley also acquired Josh McRoberts, Danny Granger and Luol Deng, with the latter expected to be the most direct replacement for James in terms of his ability to score and bring intensity on the defensive end.
Despite the Big Three era coming to a premature end, Riley is confident that the roster is strong enough for the new season but he has revealed that he is already looking as far ahead as the 2016 free agency market where he will try to construct another star cast.
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