MIAMI (AP) – Dwyane Wade still isn’t totally ready to leave Miami.
He felt he had no choice.
The soon-to-be Chicago Bulls guard offered his side Saturday of the process that led to the end of his 13 years with the Miami Heat and deciding to play for his hometown team. Wade insisted he has “the utmost respect and admiration” for Heat President Pat Riley – who drafted him in 2003, coached him to his first title in 2006 and now played a role that led to him leaving a franchise that’s clearly in transition.
And despite his anger about the breakup, he made clear that he will never bash the Heat or Riley.
“I love Pat Riley,” Wade said. “He’s been someone who’s 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 an organization and to be a businessman. And it sucks. You know somebody so well, you guys love each other, but the business side comes out.