Inside The Heat

Pat Riley Says Dwyane Wade "Carried Our Franchise" During Hall Of Fame Career

Miami Heat team president Pat Riley said Dwyane Wade exceeded all expectations
Shandel Richardson|
Pat Riley Says Dwyane Wade "Carried Our Franchise" During Hall Of Fame Career
Pat Riley Says Dwyane Wade "Carried Our Franchise" During Hall Of Fame Career

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Miami Heat

This week, Miami Heat team president Pat Riley had nothing but kind words for Dwyane Wade. 

He compared Wade to Michael Jordan and also called him the best player in franchise history ahead of LeBron James. The compliments during the Hall of Fame pre-ceremony show on NBA TV. 

Riley once spoke highly of Wade, who becomes the first Heat-drafted player to earn the distinction. Riley even said Wade exceeded all expectations after being taken No. 5 in the 2003 NBA draft.  

"I would have liked to have thought that I knew that [Wade would become a Hall of Famer], that I had a crystal ball but I didn't," Riley said told NBA TV. "His first year, you could see that he had something in him and then after his first year going on into his second year and right through the Big Three, he was a superstar. He carried our franchise and he carried me and he carried his coaches as we try to carry them. He's brought so much to our organization, just not only in Miami but also nationally and now globally. Dwyane is a special, special human being." 

If anything, the event has given Riley and Wade a chance to show they have made up since their split in 2016. Wade left Miami to play in Chicago and Cleveland for 18 months in what appeared over a contract dispute. 

Wade eventually returned so he could end his career in Miami. Riley has since apologized for preventing Wade from playing all of his seasons with the Heat. 

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star. TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here

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