MIAMI _ In addition to bringing finality to the first-of-its-kind three-day event to retire Dwyane Wade's jersey, Sunday's exclusive screening of the Miami Heat star's documentary, "D. Wade: Life Unexpected," also closed a chapter for Wade.
As Wade presented his film at AmericanAirlines Arena on Sunday afternoon to Heat fans, who also got to hear from Wade ahead of it and take pictures with the jersey banner of Wade's No. 3 on the arena floor, it served as a turning of the page for Wade in his life.
"As great as this last year and a half has been, I need to put that behind me so I can focus on the next act in my life," said Wade Saturday following his jersey retirement during halftime of the Heat's 124-105 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers and alluding to last season's "One Last Dance" season-long celebration of his playing career in his 16th and final NBA campaign.
"(Sunday), when my documentary comes out, it's a wrap of my life and my career at this point. And once that's over with, Monday morning, I'm looking to be a new person, and I want everyone to understand that basketball Dwyane Wade, that was a moment of time, but now I have to move forward with what I will be next and what my next calling is."
For Wade, right now, that's his new role as an analyst on TNT's NBA coverage. It's several business ventures that include partnerships with Gatorade and Chinese apparel company Li-Ning and building his own brands with D. Wade Cellars wine and 800 Degrees Woodfired Kitchen, the restaurant he opened in Aventura with longtime Heat teammate Udonis Haslem. Even more importantly for Wade, it's being a family man to wife Gabrielle Union and his children.
It could one day mean returning to the Heat in some capacity, which Wade is not ruling out.
"I've definitely talked about it," Wade said Saturday night. "I've definitely thought about it. If the right time and the right moment presents itself where I'm wanted back and it's the right situation for me and my family and it's the right role for me, then of course I would do it.
"I'm happy to be doing TNT right now because it keeps me close to the game. It keeps me within arm's reach of the game. It keeps me close, so if one day, that's a part of my journey and a part of my path, then of course. Sign me up. Right now, I got other things I want to build and I want to do. I don't feel like the Heat are going nowhere. I don't think the Arisons are going nowhere, but we'll have that conversation at a later day."
It's also keeping an eye on and lending a helping hand to the next generation of hoopsters, especially those coming through the Heat organization.
With Heat big man Bam Adebayo making his first All-Star appearance this season in his third year since being drafted by Miami, Adebayo is a player Wade can see carrying on the legacy within the franchise.
"Someone like Bam, right away, when I got back to Miami, you could feel he's special," Wade said. "He's a special person. Basketball, the sky's the limit for him.
"As I continue to say, we set a bar. My points and my assists was a bar that was set before me. It was set by Alonzo (Mourning). It was set by Tim Hardaway. It was set by the greats before me, and that's all I've done. I just set a bar."
Wade has relayed to Adebayo his desire for him to reach his ultimate potential but doesn't want to put excessive pressure on him while still young.
"I told Bam a couple of weeks ago," Wade said, "before he got announced to the All-Star Game, 'Go take it. Go do it. Go set a bar for the next kid and the next child, someone who may not even be born yet, but continue to set bars. Continue to help the next generation become greater.' And that's all I try to do. I try to set that bar, and I hope one day I'm here and I'm in this arena when all my records have been broken. Because that means that the generation behind me has been greater, and that's what you want.
"We don't want to put that pressure on Bam right now, but he's definitely somebody we look at and say, 'Alonzo, UD, guys like that, you have that character. You have that opportunity to do something special within this organization that loves him.'"
Wade's documentary was previously screened during All-Star weekend in Chicago and at his alma mater Marquette for select audiences at each before Sunday's event. It airs on ESPN later Sunday night at 9 p.m.
Sunday's event was preceded by Saturday's traditional jersey retirement ceremony and Friday's "Flashback" event.
