As LeBron James sat on that American Airlines Arena stage six years ago, rattling off the number of championships he planned to win with the Miami Heat – "not one, not two, not three …" – Dwyane Wade was right there next to him, guffawing and nearly falling from his seat in jubilance for the super team he helped create. James was the game's biggest star and a two-time MVP at the time, but Wade sat center stage – James on his right, Chris Bosh on his left – on the day three NBA players flexed their powers in ways unprecedented and league-altering.

View photos Dwyane Wade spent his first 13 seasons with the Heat. (Getty Images) More

For that free-agent coup to come together, for Pat Riley to convince James and Bosh to leave behind their own teams and come to South Beach, Wade didn't just have to be a pestering, persuasive recruiter; he had to sacrifice. Like the perfect party host, Wade took the lowest salary of the trio to accommodate his guests. But Wade incurred another expense that often gets overlooked while remembering the team that gave Miami two more Larry O'Brien trophies – he also surrendered two years of his athletic prime to make it all possible.

Wade is gone now, leaving behind the only organization for which he played, abandoning that overused phrase, "Heat Lifer," to return to his hometown Chicago Bulls. On a scale of one to Kevin Durant, Wade's departure obliterates the surprise meter in an NBA offseason that continues to provide fascinating, eye-popping fodder.

The Bulls shipped out one homegrown talent in Derrick Rose, to get another more accomplished one two weeks later. Before the Super Friends decided to embark on that four-year fling, Wade flirted with going home but couldn't pass on a dream union in Miami. This time around, Wade was jilted and left with little choice but to seek refuge in any place that showed him the love he desired. The Denver Nuggets stepped up first. Then the Bulls. The Heat did not.

While it's easy to look back on the money that Wade consistently surrendered to Riley and Heat owner Micky Arison so that they could field a competitive team – including that $10 million giveback in 2014 that was used to retain Bosh with a max contract while James fled for a return to Cleveland – the frustration that made the negotiations between Wade and the Heat so contentious goes deeper than his pocket books.

Wade almost single-handedly delivered the Heat's first championship 10 years ago but was part of a lottery team two years later. For the next two seasons, Wade went 2006 Finals mode for the franchise – exerting two of his healthiest and most productive seasons in the league on teams that got eliminated in the first round – as every decision Riley made was about preserving that precious salary-cap room in 2010.

View photos Dwyane Wade won three championships with the Heat. (Getty Images) More

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