There’s a growing movement in the Pacific Northwest to bring NBA basketball back to Seattle after the then Sonics relocated to Oklahoma City following the 2007-08 season.
Apparently, free agent guard and future Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade wants in on the action, too.
Wade recently spoke to Joel Weber of Bloomberg about what he plans on accomplishing once his playing career comes to an end. That includes Wade taking part in an ownership group around the NBA.
“I definitely want to be a part of ownership in the NBA. I’m not going to try to buy a team. I don’t have that kind of bread, but I definitely want to be a part of a great ownership group,” Wade said.
The more interesting aspect here is that Wade made it clear that he wants to bring NBA basketball back to the Pacific Northwest.
“Seattle. I want Seattle’s team, the Sonics, to come back,” he said. “I think Seattle is a great basketball town. I would love to be a part of that.”
Wade and his better half, Gabrielle Union, are worth a combined $115 million. That’s certainly not enough “bread,” as Wade put it, to purchase a team outright. Even then, any involvement would likely be welcomed by the NBA under commissioner Adam Silver.
“NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is all about players being involved in an ownership capacity. You’ve got players like Grant Hill involved in the Atlanta Hawks,” the future Hall of Famer noted. “Shaquille O’Neal is involved in the Sacramento Kings. It’s definitely something that I’ve talked about, some of my friends have talked about. But, first of all, I’d have to be retired. When that time comes.”
As the NBA prepares for a likely return to Seattle at some point in the future, it would not be a shock to see current/former NBA players get involved, Wade included.
As for Wade’s NBA career, he’s slated to become a free agent next month. Talk about retirement has heated up some in recent weeks. Should Wade return for another season, it will almost certainly be with the Miami Heat.