MIAMI _ If the bag of rings rang true, feel free to continue to believe.
Because we are talking nine years after the fact.
And, at the very least, Chris Bosh was duly impressed.
But those who knew then, and one who knows now, never viewed it as simplistic as Pat Riley walking into his 2010 NBA free-agency meeting with LeBron James in Cleveland and creating shock and awe by tossing his bag of championship rings on the table.
Yes, Riley got his man, with LeBron signing up with the Heat for what proved to be four visits to the NBA Finals and championships in 2012 and '13.
Only, as Dwyane Wade now tells the story of coming together with James and Bosh in July 2010, it never was solely about executive influence.
But, rather, employee empowerment.
While Riley stories tend to grow larger than life, often with the Heat president allowing them to take on lives of their own, Wade, less than a month into retirement, went on a Players' Tribune podcast this past week to tell more of the less-told side of the story.
In a conversation with former Heat teammate Quentin Richardson and former NBA player Darius Miles, hosts of the Knuckleheads podcast, Wade said Miami became the landing spot for more than Riley's bling fling.
"I sit here with you guys and I promise, I never thought me and LeBron would play together," Wade said, again moving to debunk that notion of some type of masterplan when the three were teammates at the 2008 Olympics. "I remember going to my agent's office and he was like, 'Yo, LeBron and Leon (Rose) _ at the time that was his agent _ they want to get on a call with us.'
"I'm like, 'OK.' "
That, of course, was at a time when speculation already was rampant of a Wade-James alignment, with Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert later launching a tampering investigation.
"I remember talking to 'Bron. He was like, 'Where your head at?' " Wade said. "I said, 'My head is in winning. Where your head at?' He was like, 'Same thing. Let's rock together.' I'm like, 'Cool! Let's do it.' "
Among the options were the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks, teams that also had meetings with James, Wade and Bosh during that July 2010 free-agency free-for-all.
"When we were trying to make a decision of what city we wanted to play in or what we wanted to be, we had to keep our options open," Wade said, with his and Bosh's sessions with Riley coming in Chicago. "Chicago was on the top of both of our lists. They had two max contracts and they had a young D-Rose (Derrick Rose). They had a Luol Deng, they had (Joakim) Noah. They had all these pieces. So I'm like, 'In Chicago, in one of the biggest markets?' "
It was in Chicago where Riley did his ring thing in front of Bosh.
"And then Pat looks at me, looks at my dad," Bosh related in a Players' Tribune first-person piece released this week, "and he says, 'This right here ... this is what it's about, guys.' "
What mattered more, of course, was the Bulls did not have room for Wade, James and Bosh.
"But listen, we thought about it," Wade continued. "Then we looked at New York. And when it came down to it, Miami was the only team with enough money to get all three of us. Every other team only had two max contracts. When it came down to it, we thought CB was the perfect match. And ultimately bro, I just wanted to win."
So the Knicks wound up with Amar'e Stoudemire as their consolation prize, the Bulls with Carlos Boozer as their backup choice.
What makes Wade's after-the-fact account particularly relevant is that a similar free-agency free-for-all is about to ensue in less than two months, this time with Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving among the prizes, with package deals again expected to carry the day.
While Doc Rivers, Jerry West and Steve Ballmer will be cast front and center in the Los Angeles Clippers' pitches, and while former Heat assistant coach David Fizdale assuredly will be the face of the Knicks' proposals, just as in 2010, it still is about the players dictating the direction.
A factor that rings as true now as then _ with LeBron about to get back on the phone in this Los Angeles Lakers moment of need.
