When his first season with the Bulls came to an end, Dwyane Wade said he would take some time to think about his future before coming to a decision on his $23.8 million player option to stay in Chicago. The future Hall of Famer said he felt no need to “ring chase”, and would weigh the state of the Bulls, finances and his family’s best interests when making that decision.
He made that decision on Tuesday, officially confirming to Bulls management that he will pick up the option and come back for a second season. Wade’s choice came in the middle of a week owned by Jimmy Butler trade rumors in Chicago. Dwyane said on multiple occasions that he wanted the Bulls to keep Butler, and alluded to his disinterest in being around for the first stage of a full-scale rebuild. Nonetheless, he handed the Bulls his confirmation before knowing whether or not Butler will be back. (Unless, of course, Wade knows Gar Forman and John Paxson have been posturing this whole time and never intended to trade Jimmy.)
In any case, plenty of angry Bulls fans flocked to Twitter Tuesday afternoon to take their frustrations out on Wade for his decision to stick around. Obviously, many in #SeeRed Nation believe that $24 million could’ve been spent more wisely had Wade opted out and hit free agency. Does Dwyane care about that?
Hell no.
$24 Million Reasons
On Tuesday evening, TNT’s David Aldridge tweeted this interaction he had with Wade:
Asked Dwyane Wade tonight why he opted in with Chicago for 2017-18: "24 million reasons."
— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) June 21, 2017
Of course Dwyane knew that Aldridge would share his answer with the world on social media. He didn’t sugar coat any of it. He gave a truthful, blunt answer and he didn’t care who knew. It reminded me of Steve Nash’s similar answer when he chose not to retire in 2014. No shame in saying you want the money. If any of Wade’s critics were in his shoes, 95% of them would do the exact same thing.
Wade wasn’t finished. In addition to his blunt answer to Aldridge, Wade also offered up his own tweet reminding critics of his numbers last season:
18.3 points a game in 29mins on 43% shooting at 35 years old. if I'm 25 with the same numbers I'm getting 150 million 😂 #Fading #petty
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) June 21, 2017
Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press did some research and found Wade’s bragging was backed up by history.
Dwyane's right, by the way.
How many seasons in NBA history has a 35-year-old averaged what he did in 30 minutes or less?
Until now, one.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) June 21, 2017
Guess who retweeted that? Yup, Wade.
Oh, and one final thing. In case any Bulls fans were still out there throwing trash at Wade for picking up his option and not deserving this money, he gave them a little reminder of what his life is right now via Instagram.
Wade woke up to this beautiful view in Florence, Italy this morning. Not too shabby. While Bulls fans are condemning Wade on the internet for his money grab, he’s off on an Italian family vacation.
Well played, Dwyane. Very well played.
