Former player Dwyane Wade went viral after giving his story of what he thinks led to LeBron James‘ departure from the Miami Heat in 2014. Wade said that Heat president Pat Riley’s strict dietary restrictions are the reason he departed for Cleveland. The three-time champion told a story about how Riley took away James’s favorite chocolate chip cookies.
Wade said James had his favorite chocolate chip cookies with him at most times. However, it was taken away from him during one moment when they were playing cards on the plane. The former Heat star recalled that a personnel member from the organization approached him and told him about the cookies.
Riley is widely known around the league as someone strict about his players’ fitness. According to Alonzo Mourning, the executive has emphasized the players to “be in world-class shape.”
NBA News: Miami Heat clarified Wade’s story
However, the story that Wade told during his appearance at “The Underground Lounge”. Podcast host Dan Le Betard revealed the organization’s side of the story.
“It was ice cream,” Le Batard relayed (3:52). “It was not cookies. Pat wasn’t the coach, he didn’t travel. Doesn’t know what the food is on the flight. It was the nutritionist, not Pat. And this one, this one. Everyone knows, this is what I was told. Everyone knows that Pat would have eaten those cookies himself because he loves chocolate chip cookies. So the story just has no truth to it.”
“The Miami Heat believe that in this one instance, Dwyane Wade appears to be lying.”
Wade has not responded to the accusation about the truth behind his story about his former teammate and close friend. However, he mentioned when told the tale that the incident with the cookies was the moment he had an “inkling” about James’ eventual departure.
How was LeBron James’ final season with the Miami Heat?
During the 2013-14 season, the Miami Heat was still one of the top teams in the league. They had just come off a championship win against the San Antonio Spurs and were still the favorite to win the title.
James appeared in 77 games, the second-most games he played while he was with the franchise. He also came off a season where he won the regular season MVP for the fourth time. The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 27.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
He finished the season second in MVP voting behind Kevin Durant, who was playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder that season.
The All-Star forward led Miami back to the NBA Finals for the fourth time but came up short against the Spurs.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
