After losing to the Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals, former teammates LeBron James and Dwyane Wade went on vacation to the Bahamas.
According to Wade, the trip was planned before they knew the results of the championship. During a recent interview with Showtime’s Rachel Nichols, Wade recalled that his wife, Gabrielle Union, and LeBron’s wife, Savannah James, attended this trip as well.
That offseason was crucial for LeBron’s career because although he now has won four championships, he had not yet won any during his time in the NBA. Wade’s memories from that summer potentially offered insight into LeBron’s mindset at the time.
"I was like, 'This dude's crazy.'" – Dwyane Wade on this week's episode of Headliners, explaining how LeBron jumped off a balcony into a pool after losing the 2011 Finals. This story is, well, listen for yourself ⬇️
Full interview is on Showtime tonight & also available streaming pic.twitter.com/BnO14bP1Bf— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) April 27, 2023
Wade noted that upon LeBron’s arrival, he immediately looked down at a pool from their view on a balcony. Then, without hesitation, he lept:
“He said how deep do you think that is? [I said] I don’t know, eight or nine feet? He said let me see. [He] took his stuff off, jumped in the pool from the balcony. I promise you … This dude is crazy.”
Nichols reacted appropriately, noting how that could have ended LeBron’s NBA career.
According to Wade, however, LeBron didn’t even think about that for a moment. He simply jumped in the water. Basketball was the farthest thing from his mind. He just needed a break, and perhaps that leap provided him with a nice escape.
LeBron has previously recalled that vacation as a turning point in his career. He said on the first day of the trip, Wade and Union had candid conversations about LeBron’s identity and public persona as a villain (via ESPN):
“They were just like, ‘Listen, you need to get back to who you are. We understand the portrayal of what they want you to become right now. That’s not you. You didn’t get to this point in your career by playing the game with the black hat and with that mentality of it’s me against the world. You need to get back to that Magic Johnson feeling, mixed with some other guys — that Penny Hardaway flair, but still that determination of MJ [Michael Jordan]. You need to get back to that because that’s just who you are. You are who you are. You’re no one else. Don’t try to be no one else.'”
LeBron said that after that, he was able to enjoy the rest of his vacation.
