"One thing about Shaq," Wade said, "is he did it the way he wanted to do it. At the end of the day, he had fun with the game. He did it the way he wanted to do it for 19 years. There's not many people who can say that.




"He said what he wanted to say, he did what he wanted to do. And not many people can say that. So he enjoyed his time in the NBA."



His 19 years in this league goes unprecedented, what he was able to do for this league, not only on the court, but off the court," James said. "I think he's probably one of the only big men to ever play this game to be able to market and to be able to be marketable off the court. He sold shoes, he did movies, he did a lot of things off the court. Sold records, he did a lot. He did everything."



The two spent time together at All-Star Games and promotional events.





For Wade, there were some of the best of times and leanest of times during the three-plus seasons as Heat teammates.