"One last dance," posted three-time NBA Championship and the 2006 FMVP Dwyane Wade on his Twitter account on Sunday to announce that he will play for the Miami Heat for what will probably be the last season of his career.
In a video uploaded to YouTube, 36-year-old Flash shared how he has viewed his career. "I've always done things my way. Whether they've [been] good or whether they've been bad, I got here because I've done things the way that I feel is right for me and right for my family. And what I feel is right," said Wade.
Wade is the greatest player in the history of the Miami Heat. /VCG Photo
He wept, the man who has been suffering from knee injuries for over a decade but still did not give up, shed tears. "This is it. I've given this game everything that I have, and I'm happy about that, and I'm going to give it for one last season, everything else I have left," said Wade, announcing his return in the 2018-19 season.
ESPN expected Wade to sign a 2.4-million-US-dollar deal with the Heat later this week. It was, in his words, "the hardest decision of his life". According to The Associated Press, Miami's greatest basketball player in history was seriously considering retirement until late last week. Then head coach Erik Spoelstra, together with others helped him make the decision with a push.
"Can I physically do it? Can I physically get out of bed every day to do this? Can I step with every step hurting in the morning? Can I deal with the travel? Can I be away from my family? Is it selfish for me to want to continue to be away from my family?" There were so many questions for Wade to answer before he could decide on the future of his career.
Dwayne Wade, the NBA Finals MVP of 2006 /VCG Photo
In the video, Wade mentioned a name, Henry Thomas, his agent who has been there for him since he entered the league in 2003 and passed away in January. His loss was a hit to Wade who said that he sometimes could not feel the same joy of playing he used to feel with Thomas by his side. "When I lost Hank, I lost a part of me."
Before Wade starts his 16th season, let's take a look at what he has done for the Heat. He has scored 20,473 points by making 7,426 field goals and 5.226 free throws, delivered 5,009 assists and produced 1,433 steals in 31,027 minutes on the court of 876 games played-all No.1 in Miami history. He also ranked second in blocks (774) and fourth in rebounds (4,197) as a 1.93-meter shooting guard.
(Top picture: Dwayne Wade will play his 16th season in NBA. /VCG Photo)