What happens when a career gets edited on the permanent canvas of your skin? Dwyane Wade’s latest chest tattoo commemorates Marquette, Team USA, and Miami—but conspicuously blanks out stints from two franchises now valued at nearly $9 billion in total. For a man whose legacy is synonymous with Heat royalty, those “nasty” detours are moments he’d rather leave behind.
Wade just upgraded his tattoo collection with a bold chest piece that captures the heart of his legacy. Center stage: his bronze statue at the Kaseya Center and his Hall of Fame crest. He’d already inked four career jerseys—Richards HS, Marquette, Team USA, and the Miami Heat—on his left pec. No Bulls (worth $5 billion as of 2024). No Cavs (worth $3.95 billion as of 2024). Just the chapters he truly claims as his own.
With these two jerseys clearly missing from the lineup, fans were loud about it. One user asked, “Skipped the Bulls and Cavs era?” while another added, “Where’s the Cleveland Cavaliers jersey! Was that part of his basketball career??!” Technically, yes—it was. Wade averaged 18.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in 60 games with the Chicago Bulls. And during his stint with Cleveland, he put up 11.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.5 assists across 46 games.
Dwyane Wade just got his basketball career tatted across his chest pic.twitter.com/Vbcx6UEXFv
— Heat Culture (@HeatCulture13) May 18, 2025
Fans noticed immediately. “No Cavs and no Bulls—he really love us for real,” one fan posted, clearly touched that Wade chose to highlight only the parts of his career closest to his heart. Another chimed in, “Imagine if bro just had the Cavs and Bulls jersey in there,” while one straight up said, “I respect him skipping right over those Chicago and Cleveland years.” But let’s not forget—Wade once called playing for the Bulls a dream come true, even saying that watching Michael Jordan play in person was the moment he knew: “That’s who I wanna be in life.”
So while fans might interpret the tattoo omission as Dwyane Wade erasing those chapters, it might just be him editing the story to spotlight the pieces that helped shape his legacy the most.
Dwyane Wade and his homecoming that didn’t last long
Dwyane Wade’s road from Miami to Cleveland wasn’t just a detour—it was a full-on emotional rollercoaster. After spending 13 iconic seasons with the Miami Heat, Wade took a major turn in 2016 when he signed a two-year, $47.5 million deal with the Chicago Bulls. It was a homecoming moment—he was back where he grew up, back in the city that made him fall in love with the game watching Michael Jordan. But what looked like a storybook return quickly faded.
Just a year later, the Bulls were heading into a rebuild, and Wade knew it wasn’t the right place or time for him. “Being part of a team that is in the process of rebuilding doesn’t align with where I want to be right now,” he said at the time. So, he agreed to a buyout and was soon off to the Cleveland Cavaliers—reuniting with LeBron James and hoping to chase a fourth NBA title. On paper, it made sense. In theory, it should’ve been exciting.
But Cleveland? That stint came and went fast—Wade played only 46 games in the 2017–18 season before being traded back to the Heat mid-year. Looking back, Wade had zero hesitation admitting how disconnected he felt. “When I was in Cleveland, I was like a zombie,” he shared with Cavaliers Nation.
And when Carmelo Anthony joked on the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast about how bad the Cavs jersey was, Wade didn’t hold back either: “Ohh it’s nasty… definitely one of the most nastiest jerseys.” He even ditched his iconic No. 3 and wore his Olympic number instead. That stretch in Cleveland? Yeah, he was ready to forget it—and maybe that’s why it didn’t make the cut when it came time to ink the moments that mattered most on his chest.
Some careers are measured in games played. Wade’s? In memories made. And while the Bulls and Cavs might technically count, they didn’t stick. His ink, just like the fans’ responses, reflected a truth that’s bigger than any box score
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