The tears will come later.
For Dwyane Wade, the priority this week was to soak it all up.
“There will definitely be a moment when I’m by myself when I’ll think about everything and I’ll get emotional,” the Miami Heat icon said as he transitioned from Wednesday night’s career finale to whatever now follows in retirement.
“I’ve been preparing for this for a while,” he said after completing his 16th and final season. “I was the one dealing with these emotions and these thoughts all summer when I made the decision, or when I was trying to make a decision.”
And then the decision to return for “One Last Dance” played out in storybook fashion that only lacked a final playoff chapter, first with 30 points in Tuesday night’s emotional home farewell at AmericanAirlines Arena and then Wednesday night’s career-ending triple-double against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center.
“I think my sister, when I turned to my sister and she had the tears coming all down her eyes and she had an ugly cry face,” Wade, 37, said of his ultimate emotional takeaway from Wednesday’s final ticks. “But I know what it means to my family, how proud they are of everything I’ve been able to accomplish both on and off the court.
“I’m proud of that, because it took me back to me and my sister being young and she telling me to pray for what I wanted, and I prayed for this and it came true.”
Most satisfying, Wade said, was he was able to do it his way, the completeness of his game manifesting in the career-ending triple-double.
“I think everybody has their own path. They have their own journey,” he said. “I don’t know why, but now everybody feels like they have to go out and score 60 in their last game because Kobe [Bryant] did it.”
He paused. Smiled.
“So hopefully I took the bar all the way back down and say, ‘Just go get a triple-double. That’s easier,’ ” he added.
And, no, no turning back.
“I think everybody close to me understands that this is a for-real thing for me,” he said. “I haven’t wavered at one point at all, and I’ve had everyone’s support along the way.
“That’s been the cool thing about this. I’ve always had a lot of support.
“In decisions that have been great and decisions that haven’t been so great, I’ve had people that support me through it all. I think everybody around me knows that this is for real. I won’t be making a comeback, retire at 37, make a comeback. [Michael] Jordan was special to be able to come back into his 40s and play, but this is it.”
Wade said he hopes the retirement tour came across as genuine, because he said it was one from the heart.
“Whether it’s me writing a book or trying to tell my truths, and I say my truths because there’s always three sides to everything, I always try to tell my truth, and I understand that no one’s perfect.
“I always tell my kids don’t even try to be perfect. The only way you learn is through mistakes and through trials and tribulations. I just try to be open to anybody who is a fan of mine or who will listen about life.”
He then tried to put it all into perspective.
“Obviously, the life that I’ve been able to live is not real life in a sense,” he said. “This little fake life in the NBA is something totally different, but I’ve been through real-life situations. I like to express it. I like to share it because you never know what you’re saying and what you’ve been through, how it can help someone else. That’s what I’ve tried to do along the way.”
And now . . . exhale.
“I can retire and be happy about my career, my body of work and everything I’ve been able to accomplish,” he said. “I’m good with it.”
iwinderman@sunsentinel.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat or facebook.com/ira.winderman
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