AUBURN HILLS, Mich. _ Having been part of the Miami Heat's resurgence alongside Dwyane Wade, Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said Wednesday "it's sad" not to see Wade closing out his NBA career where he started.
Van Gundy, who doubles as the Pistons coach and president of basketball operations, said the reality of NBA personnel is the NBA star who stays in one place is increasingly rare, with Wade departing in free agency in July for the Chicago Bulls after spending the first 13 seasons of his NBA career with the Heat.
"It's the way it is now," said Van Gundy, who served as Heat coach for the first 2{ seasons of Wade's career. "Very few guys, very, very, very few guys are going to finish where they start. But it certainly looked for a long time like he would have been one of the guys who would have finished there.
"And in a lot of ways, it's sad. And that's not to putting blame on anybody. It's just the way the system is. In a lot of ways it's sad _ he should have been that guy."
Van Gundy, though, said it is not as if Wade stands alone, with LeBron James having previously left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Heat, only to eventually return to the Cavaliers, and Kevin Durant leaving the Oklahoma City this past offseason for the Golden State Warriors.
"But look around, some of the best aren't that guy," Van Gundy said, "I mean, Kevin Durant's not that. LeBron is not that guy. I mean that's just the way the league is now. But it'll be different. It'll be different."
Van Gundy said it will hit home when he sees Wade in person in a Bulls jersey.
"It was like somebody asked me about Tim Duncan in San Antonio," he said before Wednesday's game against the Heat at the Palace of Auburn Hills. "I mean, people retire. So I don't think it'll really hit me not seeing him out here tonight. Plus, as you go through the years, guys get hurt, whatever, they don't play.
"What'll be strange is seeing is seeing him in a Chicago jersey. That's when it will be strange to me, seeing him in another jersey. Not having here tonight, I don't think I'll really notice. But when we go to Chicago, to play them, and he's wearing that jersey, that'll seem strange. Obviously, it's different."
