Cleveland Cavaliers’ Dwyane Wade holds up his jersey during a news conference at the NBA basketball team’s training facility, Friday, Sept. 29, 2017, in Independence, Ohio. Wade once convinced LeBron James that Miami was the place to be. Seven years later, James lured Wade to Ohio for the chance to win another NBA title, together.(AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
Cleveland introduced Dwyane Wade on Friday, and he says he can’t wait to be reunited with LeBron James because, like ham and eggs and peaches and cream, the duo are a matching pair.
“We’re just … it’s like peanut butter and jelly, man,” Wade said of his warm friendship with James. “We just go together.”
The 35-year-old Wade went to four NBA finals and won two championships in four years together with the Miami Heat before James left to join his hometown Cavaliers.
“Every time we walk by each other in the locker room and everywhere, we just look at each other and shake our head because it just don’t seem real,” Wade told reporters on Friday.
“It’s like, ‘How did this happen? How did we get here?’ We just start laughing every time we walk by each other.”
Wade has reached a buyout agreement this week with the Chicago Bulls, reportedly leaving $8 million on the table before signing with the Cavaliers for the veteran’s minimum of $2.3 million.
Wade, who grew up on Chicago’s south side, averaged 18.3 points and 3.8 assists in 60 games for the Bulls last season. It was his lowest point totals since his 2003 rookie season.
“I’ve been lucky enough in this league to be in a lot of big games, a lot of big moments,” Wade said.
“Been in five finals and my whole life I’ve been in some big moments, so that’s what makes me alive. “You come into a basketball season and you just plan to play, I don’t like that feeling.
“Those are things that make me feel alive. Just being on that big stage, being in those moments.”
Wade owns career averages of 23.3 points, 5.7 assists and 4.8 rebounds in 14 seasons with Miami and Chicago.
The overhauled roster in Cleveland now includes Derrick Rose, Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Jose Calderon and Wade.