Dwyane Wade danced his way off a private jet after putting pen to paper with Miami Heat in a stunning homecoming trade deal.
The revered shooting guard spent the day yesterday travelling from Cleveland to Florida, and he and his wife Gabrielle Union could not contain how happy they were to be home.
Footage of the couple landing in Miami – where he spent his first 13 years as an NBA pro – shows the two frolicking on the runway, and a video uploaded by the 36-year-old all-star just before 5am shows how much it means to him.
He said: ‘We’re definitely happy to be home. I think we all thought and believed that one day it could happen, and we’re glad that one day is today.’
The revered shooting guard started his NBA career in Florida and secured three championships between 2003 and 2016 when he left for the Chicago Bulls.
Heat had offered him a two-year contract worth $40million, but when Chicago came in with a $47million offer, he jumped ship and headed to the city of his birth in Illinois.
The season ended with him being traded again – this time to the Cleveland Cavaliers – but when the franchise decided a complete overhaul of their roster was needed and Wade completed his return to Miami.
Wade cannot contain his smile in the video, which features Union, and he said: ‘We’ve had an eventful day. We’re definitely happy to be home
‘I wanna first start off by saying thanks to the Cavs fanbase, organization and the players that accepted me with open arms.
‘It wasn’t a season everybody wanted, but I think for the most part I came in and tried my best so I hope you saw that and felt that.
‘I also want to thank the Miami Heat organization for bringing us back home.
‘It’s something we’ve talked about for a long time as a family, it’s something the fanbase in Miami has talked about.
‘I think we all thought believed that one day it could happen, and we’re glad that one day is today
‘I’m excited to get started
‘I’m excited to be back home, in our bed, with our kids, in our apartment, with our dogs – the list goes on and on.
‘Thanks again to everyone in the organization at the Miami Heat – I can’t wait to get this thing going.
‘Let’s go Heat.’
Cleveland made a series of trades Thursday to reshape its roster, and LeBron James took to Instagram to say goodbye to his close friend. ‘Truly happy for my brother Dwyane Wade,” James wrote. ‘It’s how it’s suppose to be. Love you my guy.’
Earlier in the day, Union kept fans in the loop, posting a video from the private jet saying she was ‘on her way to Cleveland’ to pick up ‘the package’.
She said it wasn’t the way she envisaged spending her day off in Atlanta, but it’s clear from her smile she was delighted with her change of plan.
When Wade gets on the plane, she shrieks: ‘The package has arrived. We’re going home.’
The all-star can be seen in playful mood, dancing his way up the aisle to his seat and smiling.
Another video of the couple coming off the aircraft onto the tarmac shows them walk hand-in-hand onto the runway before Union is spun around as she prances under the Florida night sky.
Her Instagram story ends with Wade coming out of the bathroom in a robe and slippers, with his wife saying, ‘You brand new,’ as they settle down to watch Scandal on their huge TV.
Wade spent his first 13 NBA seasons with the Heat after being the fifth overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, and recently said that his goal was still to retire as a member of the team.
Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat drives to the basket during Game Two of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in the 2012 NBA Playoffs against the New York Knicks
He is the organization’s all-time leader in numerous categories, with 855 games played, amassing 20,221 points, 4,944 assists and 1,414 steals.
After reaching a buyout with the Chicago Bulls last offseason, Wade considered the Heat among several potential destinations.
He ultimately decided to reunite with LeBron James on a one-year deal with Cleveland, but has been part of a Cavs team that has struggled to find consistency this season.
He is averaging 11.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 23.2 minutes in 46 games in a reserve role.
James and Wade played together in Miami from 2010 to 14, winning a pair of NBA titles.
They hoped to make another run together in Cleveland, but the Cavs are third in the Eastern Conference, seven games behind the Boston Celtics and only four games out of falling out of the playoff picture altogether.
Cleveland made a series of trades Thursday to reshape its roster, and James took to Instagram to say goodbye to his close friend.
‘Truly happy for my brother Dwyane Wade,” James wrote. ‘It’s how it’s suppose to be. Love you my guy.’
He signed it off with the hashtag Wade County Back.
Wade, who turned 36 on January 17, acknowledged last week that he would be lying if he said he had not thought about closing out his career in a Heat jersey.
‘When that opportunity comes, that day comes, hopefully, I can go out in a Miami Heat jersey,’ he said. ‘I don’t know how it will be, but I would love it.
‘For me, I’m at the point where you get this high up in years played in the NBA, you kind of take the summer to think about what you want as a player and go from there.
‘For me, the arena that I walked in to play, I would like to leave in.’
Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat talks to the media while holding the Larry O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy after his team wins the NBA Championship by defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game Five of the 2012 NBA Finals
Now, Wade could not be more excited to get back to his familiar surroundings.
He’s also excited for an unfamiliar uniform.
It’s an unusual perk, but one of the things Wade said he’s looking most forward to when he returns to the Miami Heat on Friday night is the team’s new ‘Vice’ jersey and shorts — the design being a play on the themes of Miami in the 1980s, replete with pastel trim and a font the team used when it played in its original arena.
‘OK, I’ve seen the jerseys — me and a friend of mine, won’t say his name — and I was like, “Listen, I need to get those shorts, at least,”‘ Wade said.
Dwyane Wade of the Cleveland Cavaliers for his last game for the organization before he was traded to the Miami Heat
‘The jerseys are unreal.’
The friend was fellow former Heat star — and fellow fashion aficionado — LeBron James.
‘I will not confirm nor deny who it was,’ Wade said.
The Heat are wearing the uniform 15 times this season, with 10 of those left to play.
They are in them for Wade’s return against the Milwaukee Bucks, his first game with the Heat since the 2016 playoffs.
‘Right now, definitely top three in the best jerseys in the NBA,’ Wade said.
‘Definitely excited to put that on my body real soon here.’
Wade will be back in his Number 3 jersey, and back in his old locker as well.
The locker’s most recent occupant, Okaro White, was traded away by Miami in a separate move Thursday.
The Heat have not announced what sort of tributes will accompany Wade’s return.
He said he isn’t worried about that, and insisted he’s more excited to reunite with the likes of Goran Dragic, Udonis Haslem, Josh Richardson and Hassan Whiteside.
‘It will be a seamless thing for me to come in and add something to the team,’ Wade said.