Wade says hard part of rebuilding is over

Associated Press

DORAL, Fla.

Dwyane Wade looked at the flag, took his stance and slowly pulled back his 5-iron.

He whiffed. Twice.

“No time to practice my golf,” Wade said.

That’ll soon change. With his free agency settled, with LeBron James and Chris Bosh now along for the ride and with the Miami Heat roster slowly taking shape, Wade is looking forward to finally getting some downtime this summer — knowing that a training camp unlike any other starts in about two months.

Touching on a variety of topics, Wade seemed as relaxed and content as he’s been in weeks on Wednesday when he and Alonzo Mourning co-hosted a charity golf event to start their five-day series of fundraising activities known as the Summer Groove. Wade posed for photos, chatted with those who paid $1,000 to play, even wolfed down a hamburger under a canopy with fans during a rain delay.

“The hard part,” Wade said, “is out of the way.”

No explanation necessary. The hardest parts of Wade’s summer are all behind him now. He has a $107 million, six-year contract after giving back some money to accommodate the acquistions of James, Bosh and Udonis Haslem, his close friend and teammate for the past seven seasons. He settled four civil lawsuits from failed business deals, finalized a divorce and is spending time with his kids.

It’s all about looking ahead now, Wade insisted.

A little more than a week ago, some sports books in Las Vegas had Miami listed as a 20-1 shot to win the 2011 NBA title. The Heat are now about an 8-5 betting choice, now that James, Bosh and Wade — three of the NBA’s top nine scorers last season — will be together for presumably years to come.

“It still seems surreal,” Wade said. “Walking down the hallway when we were on our way to do the congratulations, the ‘Yes. We. Did.’ event, looking to my life and my right, I’m like, ‘this is awesome.’ It just happened and it was the best thing for all of us to do.”

By “all of us,” he didn’t just mean the Big 3, either.

Wade credited James with successfully recruiting center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who announced Tuesday he’ll leave Cleveland to sign with the Heat.