Dwayne Wade rips Chicago, hints he wants LeBron James in Miami

Dwayne Wade is not signing with the Chicago Bulls, if his recent quote to the Chicago Tribune questioning the team’s loyalty to its stars is any indication. But while it’s one thing for him to decide to remain with the Miami Heat, it’s another to plant a quote like that in a major Chicago newspaper (and not his hometown paper, either), where he knows it’ll get seen and heard round the nation. So who is Wade sending a message to, then? Dave Hyde of the Sun-Sentinel (admittedly Wade’s hometown paper) has pointed out that Wade’s most likely target is LeBron James, who along with Wade has been rumored to be interested in joining the Bulls. Wade trashed the Bulls organization while praising the Heat (“it’s a very loyal organization”) in such a manner that he knew LeBron would get a whiff of, not only trying to dissuade James from signing with the Bulls but specifically trying to convince James to join him in Miami. The players (along with Chris Bosh) have already admitted that they’ll all be discussing the manner privately before making their decisions, but for Wade to publicly rip the Bulls in a way that he knows he won’t be able to take back if signs with them means that he has no intention of signing with them, and was apparently willing to give that quote on the record just to make it clear to LeBron that if he does join the Bulls, he’ll be doing so without Wade.

Don’t believe Wade really wants LeBron in Miami, where the two would have to settle for sharing the credit no matter how many championships they might win together? How about this quote from Wade, in that same paper: “”My ego is not that big … I just want to win.”