“A house divided against itself will not stand. You either in or you out,” Dwyane Wade told the Miami Heat players during his statue unveiling ceremony. The three-time NBA Champion wanted to let them know that the Miami organization operates like a family, with Pat Riley being their leader.

He recently doubled down on it as he explained the Heat culture on an episode of his podcast. Wade used LeBron James’ stint with the Heat as an example to describe how the franchise functions.

He said, “I wanted them to know that if you don’t want to be here and the way things are working here and you don’t like it and this and that, then don’t be here.” Wade explained that there’s a set structure in Miami, decided by the great Pat Riley, and they don’t change it for anyone, including a superstar of LBJ’s stature.

“LeBron James only stayed four years. It wasn’t ran the way LeBron James wanted it to be ran. It wasn’t ran the way Dwyane Wade [wanted]…It’s ran the way Pat Riley is gonna run it,” the Heat legend said. Although he acknowledged that players often don’t like the strict nature of the setup, Wade believes that it’s important for organizations as a whole to instill such strong values across a front office.

In his opinion, this is what separates the Miami Heat from other teams that restructure the organization based on the demands of a superstar. So, despite the turbulent phase that the Heat are going through, Wade is happy that they’re still willing to hold down the Heat culture. The 42-year-old stated that it’s a smart choice to fall in line according to Riley’s plan because, in the end, he is going to win.

Dwyane Wade says that Pat Riley always has the last laugh

Wade spent the majority of his career playing for the Heat. As the most legendary face of the franchise, he’s always got something to say regarding the direction they’re going in. However, Wade has noticed a significant change over the last few years. He said, “The stuff we hear as former players, we don’t like it. We didn’t get away with that sh*t.”

Despite that, he knows that in the end, Riley is going to come out on top. He said, “A lot of top guys have left because they’ve run into that guy.” In his opinion, Riley will always have “the last laugh.”

Wade is loyal to the Heat and understandably so. However, upon further analysis of his statements, he has not truly taken a side here. He sympathizes with Jimmy Butler as he admits that superstars of the past have had issues with Riley and his his methods. He then adds a caveat of how its futile to try to have it your way as ‘Riles’ will get his way.

If we were to look deeper into this statement in the context of Jimmy’s issues with the Heat, it’s safe to say that he will end up becoming another example for future ‘Heat culture’ conversations. As long as the ‘Godfather’ is sporting Heat colors, star players will need to be on their toes so as to not step on his.