Caron Butler knew, perhaps even before Dwyane Wade knew, about this “One Last Dance” retirement season.
It was back in June, when Butler was doing a radio show and Wade was the guest, that the Miami Heat’s 2002 first-round pick sensed that the team’s 2003 first-round pick would be back for this 16th season.
“This has been amazing, but I knew he wasn’t going to retire,” said Butler, back around the Heat as sideline reporter for TNT’s coverage of Tuesday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center. “I was just trying to get him saying it on the air in a joking way. But we had discussions and we had dinner and had, obviously, wine and had that discussion over that process.
“I spent some time with him in L.A., and I just knew he was happy. And how he’s playing right now, he looks like he has so much more in the tank. That’s a good way to walk away from the game.”
Butler was a sensible sounding board. While he announced his retirement a year ago in a Players’ Tribune essay, his final NBA action came in 2016-17 with the Sacramento Kings.
He said being able to both contribute and mentor is what has made Wade’s decision so sound.
“I was done before I even stepped foot in Sacramento,” Butler said. “And I felt physically and mentally I crossed the finish line in Detroit with Stan Van Gundy [in 2015-16]. He did a great job by letting me rack in 18 to 20 minutes a night, and I was scoring in double figures and having those moments.
“And when I came to Sacramento it was almost was like, ‘What am I going to do? I’m going to retire. I’m done.’ And then Vlade [Divac] said, ‘Come over here and mentor these guys, like DeMarcus Cousins. I don’t need you to play.’ And that was the understanding — be a mentor. And I was OK with that. And then as a player you get frustrated because young players just don’t listen.”
Butler’s realization is that mentorship without being alongside rings hollow.
“I’m so happy to be able to see D-Wade to be able to do that,” he said. “You can only be a messenger on the sideline. But for the most part, you have to go out and demonstrate. It’s good to see him in that respected space.”
Butler, at 38 a year older than Wade, was dealt from the Heat after Wade’s rookie season in 2003-04, a season that featured mostly an ensemble approach under Van Gundy. He said he views the current Heat through that same prism.
“You can compete. And you can compete at a high level,” he said of playing without an established star. “And that’s all you can ask. If you outwork every guy at your position, you have a 60 percent chance of winning that game with that coaching staff they have. And that was my attitude when I was there. And it seems like that is the attitude of these guys.”
That also was when Wade began his emergence, which is what Butler said has to come next from the current roster.
“When guys take that next step and elevate, anything can happen,” he said.
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Or a team can punt, which the Heat did with Butler, beginning a trail of trades that took him to the Los Angeles Lakers, Washington Wizards, Dallas Mavericks, with five more stops along the way.
Which brings Butler to how a player handles the trading deadline, which this season arrives Thursday.
“Honestly, you can print this, after the first one, I didn’t really give a s— no more,” he said. “I never allowed myself to get emotionally attached to get hurt. I recognized it was business immediately after that. Fool me once, shame on me. But the second time, it’s not going to happen.
“I tried to have selective hearing and selective sight. Now, with social media, it’s hard for these young men to avoid that. If you go to your phone, you’re trending. But you have to find a way to still focus.”
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