Miami Heat's Pat Riley Reiterates His Regret Of Mishandling Dwyane Wade Departure

Miami Heat team president Pat Riley called Dwyane Wade leaving the franchise a regrettable moment

Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade being recently inducted to the Hall of Fame provided Pat Riley yet another chance to apologize for Wade leaving the organization. 

Riley spoke about it during a recent interview NBC6 Miami. 

"The departure was a huge mistake on our part, mine," Riley said. "Not to go back and regurgitate why and what happened, is that our franchise player, our prodigal son, so to speak, put us on the map, really, along with Alonzo and Tim Hardaway and everybody else prior to that, to walk away. That was not one of our best moments. I take full responsibility." 

After being drafted by the Heat in 2003, Wade left in 2016 because of a disagreement on both side. He signed with the Chicago Bulls and later played with the Cleveland Cavaliers. After 18 months away, Wade returned to finish his career in Miami. 

"But to have him come back was great," Riley said. "To have him have that last season was great. To be able to retire his number and go through the whole process with Dwyane ending his career ... I'm so appreciative of what he did for us." 

MORE HEAT-RELATED STORIES

How Heat Twitter reacted to Tuesday's win against Pistons. CLICK HERE

Takeaways from Tuesday's win against Pistons. CLICK HERE

Jimmy Butler and Cody Zeller have a new nickname. CLICK HERE

For a look at some of the latest Heat apparel. CLICK HERE

If you wanna bet on any games at @PrizePicks or PrizePicks.com, use our link and code. They will match your first bet for up to $100. Here's the code: PR-R1YOFY6

Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

TWITTER: @ShandelRich

Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here

For any Heat or NBA questions, please email shandelrich@gmail.com