'I've never seen Pat Riley so nervous,' Wade told Thomas after the meeting, a moment captured on video in his recent documentary, D.Wade: Life Unexpected. There, Riley showed Wade the formal plan to bring three stars to South Beach. Bosh visited the Bulls, and Wade received a pitch from the Heat at the office of Henry Thomas, the agent Wade and Bosh shared. The Bulls, New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets all positioned themselves to sign two superstars, and that's what those teams offered.Īfter their respective meetings, the two stars traded places. 'I wonder if he even remembers that? I think I mentioned it once, like, 'Yo, do you want that ring back?' And he said, 'What are you talking about?' And I kept it moving.'īut the most important part of the presentation wasn't jewelry. 'I still haven't given it back,' Bosh said.

Give it back to me when you win one,' Riley said to Bosh. When he ended the meeting, Pat gave me a 2006 Heat championship ring.' It looked just like a Crown Royal bag,' Bosh said. Meanwhile, high atop the Chicago skyline, Bosh was in a conference room receiving a pitch from the Heat - a meeting punctuated by Pat Riley unfurling a small velvet carpet onto the table, followed by the presentation of a small velvet bag. This was a feeling he'd dreamed about since he was a kid watching Michael Jordan win titles. Yet Wade beamed when he tried on a red Bulls No. Even as they met on July 1, the Bulls were skeptical that Wade was seriously considering signing with them, so initially, they revealed only part of their pitch. The Bulls had Harpo Productions, Oprah Winfrey's production company, create videos. They were worried, sources say, that Wade would simply pass along their free-agent strategy to his incumbent team, the Heat.Ĭhicago had spent more than a year working on pitches for James and Bosh. The Bulls were happy to host him but didn't know where they stood with Wade. 'He didn't tell me where he was signing,' Wilbon said, 'but I had a feeling it wasn't Chicago.' Instead, Wade asked Wilbon to conduct an interview in which he and Bosh would simultaneously announce their free-agent destinations. The longtime journalist had hoped Wade was calling to say that he was signing with the Chicago Bulls, their shared hometown team. One day earlier, Wade's number had popped up on Wilbon's cellphone. In the right box, Bosh smiled from his house in Dallas. On a split screen, Wade appeared from his basketball camp outside Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

THE NOON SPORTSCENTER opened with Michael Wilbon, who cut right to the chase. MORE: The Hoop Collective recounts the unforgettable week of The Decision Here are new details from those who lived through the drama. The intensity of the three days in July that led to the construction of the quintessential superteam continues to resonate 10 years later. Executives and lawyers were executing the sign-and-trade agreements transferring James' and Bosh's freshly signed deals to the Heat and cementing a team that would change the course of NBA history. ' amid smoke and fireworks in the arena bowl, phones were abuzz in Toronto, Cleveland, New York and, of course, Miami. Minutes later, James, Wade and Bosh were introduced to Heat fans as the NBA's new Big Three in a massive celebratory rally.Īs the trio was elevated on a platform rising above 'YES WE DID' on giant LED screens and as James was declaring, 'Not five, not six, not seven.

After a news conference, he proceeded to the locker room and changed into a bright white Miami Heat uniform for the first time. Just inside the door and down a hallway, a contract was waiting: six years, $109.8 million - with the Cleveland Cavaliers. But James was not yet officially a member of the Miami Heat. The day before, July 8, 2010, on The Decision broadcast, James had told a national TV audience that he was taking his talents to South Beach to join fellow superstars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, an announcement that left the NBA world reeling. WEARING AN IMPECCABLY tailored cream jacket, a light-blue button-down shirt and a jet-black tie with a contrasting platinum clip, LeBron James walked through the players' entrance at Miami's AmericanAirlines Arena for the first time. Three days in July: The high-stakes maneuvers that assembled LeBron, Wade and Bosh You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser

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