Seattle may have a powerful ally in its quest to rejoin the NBA. Dwyane Wade tells Joel Weber of Bloomsburg BusinessWeek that he would like to become an owner when his playing days are finished and is particularly interested in the Pacific Northwest.
“I definitely want to be a part of ownership in the NBA,” Wade said. “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. 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. 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 asked which team he would like to own, the SuperSonics quickly came to mind.
“I want Seattle’s team, the Sonics, to come back,” Wade said. “I think Seattle is a great basketball town. I would love to be a part of that.”
Seattle has been without a franchise since the Sonics moved to Oklahoma City a decade ago. In speculation about potential expansion sites, Seattle frequently appears at the top, but the NBA doesn’t have plans to add any teams in the foreseeable future. However, the league has scheduled a preseason game at Key Arena in October as a potential test to see how the market responds.
Wade touches on a few other issues in the interview, including:
Do teams need dynasty-level talent to win an NBA championship?
“Right now you do. I raise my hand as a part of the problem. When the Miami Heat decided to bring the big three together—myself, LeBron James, Chris Bosh—in 2009, the game changed. Players understand their power. I don’t see that slowing down. I see the next generation—my son’s generation—getting even tighter.”
Do players talk about joining forces to beat the Warriors?
“Nobody’s calling me at 36, like, ‘Yo, we need you to come lay down this dynasty.’ But obviously you want to take down the champs, right? People who watch the sport can’t wait to see what’s going to happen this summer in free agency, because you want to see a team put together that can compete against a team like that. I’m watching. I’m a fan. I want to see a big splash this summer. I would love to see some guys team up. Our game has grown. When people say Golden State is hurting our game, that’s untrue. Our game is so high right now. It’s so great, but we would like to see somebody else get an opportunity.”
Which is the best team he ever faced?
“The greatest team I’ve ever played against was probably the San Antonio Spurs, with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. They challenged you in so many ways with the mental part of the game. It goes way beyond basketball. Golden State does that. They challenge you mentally as well as physically. And they have more talent than everybody, as well. It’s going to take some special kind of medicine to put a team together to get them.”
How has the game changed over Wade’s 15-year career?
“David Stern, our last commissioner, did an amazing job of helping us grow our game, saying ‘OK, we need a face-lift, and let’s do this differently.’ He made our game global to where, in China and other countries, it’s so big. The NBA wasn’t one of the top leagues. It was definitely looked at as a very thuggish league, you know. They used to fight back in the day a lot, a lot of real grown-man fights. And that was one of the things that David Stern cleaned up—getting the players out, getting us involved in the community, building the brand. He changed that. Once you hit somebody you’re going to lose all your money. The guys started dressing differently. He helped the new players coming in to start thinking of the NBA as more of a business. It really changed the mindset.”
Players changed the mindset on their own, for branding & sponsorships. Stern did nothing.
Rick Mahorn, for all he did, was only ever suspended one game, after he grabbed MJ around the waist & threw him to the ground, & in the ensuing fracas, doing similar to coach Doug Collins and punching him. Fine: $5,000, 1-19-88.
I’ve said this before….
Lebron and KD to join together in Seattle
Curry harden LeBron and Durant would have just about enough money to form an ownership group without outside investment. And I’m sure they could convince a few more stars to join then upon retirement.
Lebron won’t need all those guys he will have a small ownerhship group help him. Lebron will probably have 51% ownership or something.
The “dynasty” talent level requirement is true, and the “getting tighter” comment is spot on – referring to future generations. It’s the AAU mentality. They band together to achieve success and alleviate the stress of competition, until one feels they should earn more of the spotlight and forms their own ‘dynasty.’
Wouldn’t it be great if Seattle got a team again. I think the league has got 1 more expansion left to do, so they reach 32 teams, cannot see them extending beyond that, it wouldn’t make sense. So apart of Seattle I would like the other team to go to San Diego or Hawaii, but also to tap in the latin market but not going to Mexico city, what about San Juan, that would be great for the fans a trip to the Caribbean in winter to watch their team, I really would love to have Seattle & San Juan added, & then 1 team relocate to San Diego, that would be really smashing.
So you would like more than 32 teams. That can be accomplished by splitting up into 2 levels with promotion & relegation between them. GLeague would be a third level.
If they want 32 teams right now… it would have to be something unconventional. As is there’s 28 teams that can’t make the finals the past four years. I don’t think the NBA can handle diluting depth to that degree when the league is more superteam-oriented than ever. That’s inherent to the game of basketball to some extent, but right now with the way things are it seems like they need FEWER teams. There aren’t enough superstars to even fill the playoff brackets with teams with actual earthly chances.
That’s one reason why half the teams being relegated makes sense. Half the teams would not be competing with a full hand of stars, but have promotion to look forward to.
With two divisions of 21 each, all 42 play each other once, Home&Away in alternating years, and play in-division 2 more games each, H&A, for 3 total.
Dwayne Wade doesn’t have money to “own” a team. He can own about 3% of a team, and serve as the face, but please stop framing it as if he’s solely going to buy a team. Wealthy men can buy teams. Rich men cannot. There’s a big difference.