Due to a sponsorship tour in China, Dwyane Wade’s official welcome press conference with the Chicago Bulls was on hold until Friday. He and Gar Forman made it official: “The Flash” is a member of the Bulls.
Next: Dwyane Wade surprises Chicago at Lollapalooza 2016
On Friday afternoon at the Advocate Center in Chicago, Bulls general manager Gar Forman and the Chicago media clan welcomed Dwyane Wade and his family to the organization.
Wade spoke for about 40 minutes on Friday on numerous topics throughout and during the presser, he was in “complete control” as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune described it. That’s an accurate description of the press conference. Wade was well-spoken, answered every question insightfully and truly look excited to be back home in Chicago.
During the presser, Jimmy Butler — who was around the building getting a workout in before Team USA’s exhibition on Friday night at United Center — made a cameo off the camera and shared a little joking and laughing with Wade.
Here’s some more highlights of Wade’s press conference, including how close he was to coming to Chicago back in 2010, his wife (Hollywood star Gabrielle Union) and kids, leaving Miami after 13 years and more.
The presser got off to a slow star due to Mrs. Wade’s late arrival:
It’s cool, Gabby. It’s a new building and you probably got lost. We understand.
A childhood dream fulfilled:
During the early going, Wade mentioned watching the 1991 Chicago Bulls and them winning the NBA title. He went on to say that his NBA dream started in Chicago.
In the words of Nas, it was written.
Miami’s big three (ALMOST) happened in Chicago:
Wade also confirmed the story that he received a Bulls jersey with his name on it. He said he took a picture with it and quickly deleted it (for obvious reasons), but humorous said it’s probably somewhere in the iCloud.
Whose team is it, Dwyane?
"It's Jerry Reinsdorf's team." -Wade on whose team it is
— Pippen Ain't Easy (@BullsBeatBlog) July 29, 2016
Superb answer.
Oh, you savvy veteran, you.
But seriously, what’s your answer?
Wade: "Jimmy Butler is the young bull on this team. We're going to depend on him a lot."
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) July 29, 2016
Rajon Rondo already deferred control of the team to Butler as well. It seems like the Bulls are doing a better job of getting their priorities in order compared to last season.
Not to point fingers at a certain someone, but see what happens when you recruit?
Wade on being a leader and having to pay Doug McDermott for giving up the No. 3:
When asked about the lack of three-point shooting on the Bulls roster, Wade talked about finding the right playing style for the personnel and dropped this laugh in here, too:
Wade on leaving Miami and starting anew with the Bulls:
I think Gabby just put us all on alert:
In terms of basketball wives, we might have found the real MVP of them.
Overall thoughts:
Wade handled the presser as well as he could have. He was composed next to Gar Forman, shared some laughs with Jimmy Butler and truly controlled the flow of the press conference. The questions all were answered with solid, in-depth answers and he was the definition of savvy on Friday.
Some of the key parts were about when he talked about Miami. He didn’t appear to have any animosity towards Heat owner Micky Arison and Pat Riley and mentioned that despite doing business with the Arison family, there’s no beef between him and Riley.
“I have no rift with Pat Riley,” Wade said.
Overall, Wade said all the right things. Will it translate to wins? No. It’s a good building block for the Bulls to get started on a game plan and mesh better than last season? Absolutely. Wade spoke highly of Butler and Rondo throughout and mentioned the talent of the young guys the Bulls have.
Wade’s still one of the best in the business. He’s not what he used to be, but he understands how things work. His presser on Friday was a prime example of that.