Dwyane Wade spent 15 years with the Miami Heat and is considered an icon of the franchise.
But that doesn’t mean he always saw eye-to-eye with the team.
In fact, there was one move from the front office that really upset Wade and he is being honest about it now years later.
According to Wade, the team’s decision to pay Hassan Whiteside before him while they pursued Kevin Durant rubbed him the wrong way.
“They wanted to go after Kevin Durant. We had Hassan Whiteside, a player that came out of the G League, had a great year, and was up for $100 million. I’m sitting here like, I want young fella to get his money… but y’all about to pay him over me?Take care of me first. Then, let’s take care of young fella. Because I’ve shown it. I’ve proven it. This is proven. And they didn’t do it. They didn’t get Kevin Durant, either,” Wade said, per NBACentral.
Dwyane Wade was offended when the Miami Heat chose to pay Hassan Whiteside before paying him
“They wanted to go after Kevin Durant. We had Hassan Whiteside, a player that came out of the G League, had a great year, and was up for $100 million. I’m sitting here like, I want young… pic.twitter.com/zLdmOyIkxh
Dwyane Wade was offended when the Miami Heat chose to pay Hassan Whiteside before paying him
“They wanted to go after Kevin Durant. We had Hassan Whiteside, a player that came out of the G League, had a great year, and was up for $100 million. I’m sitting here like, I want young… pic.twitter.com/zLdmOyIkxh
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 27, 2025
It’s not often that Wade publicly speaks about any qualms he had with the Heat so it’s interesting to see him admit how his incident bothered him.
At the time of this move, Wade was the centerpiece of the Heat, which is why he felt he deserved to get paid before Whiteside did.
But the team was attempting to do a few things at once: they wanted to keep Wade and Whiteside but also add more talent like Durant.
That was a very tricky proposition, and it required a lot of moving pieces and big paydays.
Perhaps the Heat felt they had earned Wade’s loyalty, and that is why they paid Whiteside first.
This was not a great moment for Wade, but it ultimately didn’t hurt his relationship with the team because he ended up retiring with them, remains a fan favorite, and is still close with the organization.
No NBA relationship is perfect, and this statement from Wade is proof of that.
