This afternoon, Joe Vardon of The Athletic published a piece containing material sensitive to Dwyane Wade's decision-making process, furnished by the player himself. What he learned first hand, was that LeBron James actually confided in Dwyane about his longterm goals, before recruiting him to the Cavaliers for a brief period in 2017-2018. Wade, ever so faithful to his friend, guarded LeBron's LA pipedream close to the chest, 'til this very moment in time. Vardon shared the following insight into the situation by quoting D-Wade directly instead of mincing his words.
"LeBron, first of all, he's a guy who always plays his cards close to the vest, but I knew his ultimate goal was to be in Los Angeles," Wade admitted to Vardon in conversation. "He recruited me and he talked to me about signing there (Cleveland), and I said, 'Listen, I know you might not be there long, you're gonna be a free agent and there are some things that might happen, and we'll have a conversation.' I just thought I'd make it through the season first."
As you can see, LeBron didn't have to spell things out for Dwyane Wade, for his message to get across. LeBron shared his big-picture plans with his BFF throughout his journey, so when the time had come for wholesale change, everyone on the inside, Dwyane Wade included, was with him every step of the way. Is there a more fitting endnote to this story of NBA-friendship than a video reel of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James combining for lobs in the "Big Three" era?