Wade advises Kyrie not to leave a team 'and talk s---'

Dwyane Wade changed teams twice over the last two summers but has left both Miami and Chicago on amicable terms, at least in terms of his relationship with fans.

So the 35-year-old Cleveland Cavaliers' veteran has a bit of advice to share with Kyrie Irving: There's no need to burn bridges and talk down to your former franchise.

"My thing has always been - even in Miami - first of all, you never know where you’re going to be, what’s going to happen, where you’re going to end up, who you’re going to be teammates with," Wade told ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

"You just never know those things, so I never want to leave a place and talk s--- about a place. Because when you were there, it was great, and then you leave, it’s terrible?

"It’s just like players. Fans celebrate players when they’re there, and then they leave, and it’s the worst thing. That’s not me. That’s not how I do things. I’m appreciative of what people have done for me, what organizations have done for me, and I hope they’re appreciative of whatever I can bring or whatever I’ve done - on and off the court."

Fans in Cleveland were already irritated with Irving's sudden trade request this summer, but anybody still on the fence about their former favorite rallied against him when he praised his new city of Boston in terms of how it compared to Cleveland.

"A lot of different cultures, food, and people. You get it all, especially in Boston," Irving said. "You would go to Cleveland, and it would be at nighttime and things would be going on, but you just see a vast difference in terms of what the Midwest is - Cleveland - and what Boston is.

"Boston, I’m driving in and (thinking), ‘I’m really playing in a real, live sports city?’ And a great city."

Truth be told, it wasn't necessarily a shot at Cleveland so much as it was an enthusiastic compliment toward an accomplished sports town in Boston. Wade said the reaction to Irving's comments really comes down to perspective.

"I think, depending on how you want to take it. If you’re Cleveland and the way they were left, you read it one way. If you’re a sports fan somewhere else, you read it another way. So it just depends on how someone wants to take the quote when someone says it," Wade said.