After spending the first 13 years of his career with the Miami Heat, Dwyane Wade will make his long-awaited return to South Beach on Thursday night.
And while the 34-year-old isn't certain about how he'll be received at American Airlines Arena, he's anticipating an overall positive reception given how much he's accomplished during his time in Miami.
"You never know," Wade told ESPN's Nick Friedell. "You never know how you're going to be received. But I did everything possibly right in my time there. So hopefully I'm received (for) what I've given to the franchise, organization. But at the same time you never know. You might hear a boo or something at some point. Everybody don't like you. You got to understand that. But I think overall it will be positive."
"I'm looking forward to it," Wade said. "Obviously some of those guys I've played with before, have relationships with, so I'm looking forward to getting out there and competing with them. I'm looking forward to playing in the environment that I played in for 13 years."
The Chicago Bulls shooting guard isn't sure how he'll react, but says he'll likely save the tears until his retirement ceremony.
"I think I'll definitely be appreciative of the moment," he said. "I think it's going to be cool just to see familiar faces. I think it's going to be cool to see love and support and (people) just being thankful for what you did. Unless you're just cold-blooded, everybody's going to feel something with that. At the same time, it's not like my retirement ceremony where I can get a chance to get real emotional. I'm trying to come in there and beat their butt. And they're going to try and beat our butt, so we got to get to the competitive part of the game as well."
