Dwyane Wade’s Cousin Fatally Shot While Pushing Her 3 Week Old Baby In A Stroller
Chicago police say a woman pushing a baby in a stroller was fatally shot on the citys South Side.
Authorities say the 32-year-old victim was killed when two males walked up and fired shots at a third man about 3:30 p.m. Friday. Police say the woman was not the intended target.
She was identified in local media as Nykea Aldridge, a cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade, who tweeted his reaction Saturday night:Aldridge, a cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade, who tweeted his reaction Saturday night:
Police and the Cook County Medical Examiners Office say she suffered gunshot wounds to her head and an arm.
Family spokesman Pastor Edward Jones says Aldridge was a mother of four and was walking to register her children for school. He says the family recently moved to the neighborhood.
Police say one of the males who fired shots was being questioned Friday evening.
Police say the baby wasnt hurt, and a relative has taken custody of the child.
2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Dwyane Wade Has Legitimate Leverage! NBA 2K16 Park PS4
I never really thought Dwyane Wade would leave Miami. The problem ultimately turned out to be that Micky Arison and Pat Riley thought that too.
Wade is joining the Chicago Bulls, and hes doing it for more money: a reported $47.5 million two-year deal, compared with the Heats $41.5 million two-year offer, the most they could offer with their cap situation. But this was not about money (Floridas lack of state income tax basically equalizes the two offers, and besides, the Nuggets were willing to pay $52 million). Or, at least, the money this is about is already long gone.
Its business, they say of contract negotiations, nothing personal. But anyone who tells you business isnt personal is lying.
Wade, the only connecting thread between the Heats three championships, the player who made Miami the free agent destination and thus the superpower in the East, has never been the highest paid player on his own team. Time after time, he has left money and job security on the table in order to let the front office bring in the best players.
http://deadspin.com/why-things-hav...
In 2010, Wade took $15 million less than the max so the team could afford to sign LeBron James and Chris Bosh.
In 2014, he literally took a pay cut: opting out of his deal and signing for $11 million less so Miami could re-sign Bosh.
In 2015, seeking a three-year deal, Wade settled for one year to give Miami the flexibility to rebuild.
Time and again, Wade sacrificed for his employers, and he surely must have wondered when he was going to get his. 2016 proved to be the Heats last chance. At age 34, nowhere near the superstar he was but still a good, useful player, Wade wanted his payback. He wanted money, yes, but he wanted security: a three-year deal, more than a player of his age, injury history, and abilities would warrant in a vacuum. But this is not a vacuum. This is Dwyane Wade, the face of the franchise, seeking a relative pittance in compensation for everything hes given up with the expectation that the Heat would someday take care of him like hes taken care of them.
Miami would not budge from their two-year offer. Its just business, the Heat might have said, or at least thought. You dont give a player like this three years.
And that was the end of Wades hope that the Heat would ever do anything other than take him, and his self-sacrificing loyalty, for granted.
In his open letter to Miami, Wade said very little about his decision to leave beyond I feel I have made the right choice for myself and my family. That was a long time coming. Owner Micky Arison responded to the news of Wades departure with a single tweet:
(The second-best response to Arisons tweet-farewell: Thats it? The first-best response: Why didnt you pay the man!)
And then theres Pat Riley, the hard-assed negotiator, the smooth talker who has sold so many players on taking less by making who-knows-what promises, and manages to forever avoid those IOUs coming due.
Riley was too raw to talk about it Wednesday night, but I asked him if he wanted to say anything about how he was feeling, and this is what he wrote by text:
SADDDDDDD!!!! SO saddddddd! I will never forget the sixth game in Dallas in 2006. DW rebounded the ball, and threw it to the heavens and the Heat universe was perfect for that moment. Our first world championship. Our universe is not perfect today. It will be fraught with anger, judgment, blame instead of THANK YOU!!! Ten years ago. Ten years older. Ten years wiser. Ten years changed. All of us. Dwyane had a choice, and he made it. He went home. Bad, bad summer for us. But there will be another 10 years, and it will be someone or something else in 2026. Move on with no blood or tears. Just thanks. I truly loved Dwyane, but families grow, change and get on with another life. He will always be a part of us. ALWAYS! And no more bruises and enough fighting. Lets just fly above it if we can and never forget. I feel his pain and pride for what pushed him over the ledge. Been there. Forever, for always, your coach I will be. FOREVER!
Well, yes, its very saddddddd. But it was entirely preventable, every summer for the last six years.
LeBron James, Dwyane Wade & Chris Paul on Vacation | 2016 NBA Offseason
(Mike Ehrmann/Getty) With NBA free agency beginning Friday, the Miami Heat and Dwyane Wade will once again try to agree to a new contract to keep the 34-year-old guard with the team.
But that plan has already hit a speed bump. According to ESPN"s Brian Windhorst, citing unnamed league sources, the two sides couldn"t find a "common ground" in contract discussions Tuesday, leading Wade"s representatives to let teams know Wade would be on the market this summer.
This could easily be a negotiating tactic by Wade and his team to try to force Miami"s hand. As Windhorst notes, Wade and the Heat had several contentious weeks last summer while Wade was a free agent before they eventually agreed on a one-year, $20 million deal.
Yet there"s reason to believe that this summer could actually be different. While a divorce between Wade and Miami, where he has spent all 13 years of his career, seems unimaginable, the Heat are facing some difficult decisions this offseason.
The Heat are considered one of the frontrunners to nab Kevin Durant if he leaves Oklahoma City, and they are also trying to retain breakout center Hassan Whiteside and forward Luol Deng. Simply put, the Heat can"t afford to pay all four players at their market value.
Deng would seemingly be the odd man out, but even then the Heat can"t logistically sign Durant, Whiteside, and Wade to maximum or near-maximum contracts at the same time. It would take major concessions from all three. This is dependent on Durant choosing to sign with the Heat, of course, but they are one of the teams he is scheduled to meet with when free agency begins.
This all leads to an awkward atmosphere for Wade and the Heat to negotiate under. According to Windhorst, the Heat have $40 million in cap space. If they were to sign Wade to a deal that pays him $20 million a year, they won"t be able to afford Durant unless they clear more cap space. Ditto for Whiteside, whose max contract with the Heat would pay him over $24 million a year.
The Heat would have to first sign Durant (or any other big free agent) with their cap space, and then, because they own Wade"s Bird rights, they could go above the salary cap to re-sign Wade. Yet this is asking Wade to wait in limbo while the Heat handle seemingly bigger priorities, something that doesn"t exactly stroke any star"s ego.
There"s also the matter of what Wade"s market value is. Wade was mostly healthy and productive last season, playing 74 games while averaging 19 points, four rebounds, and four assists one of his best regular seasons in several years. But he is 34; how much are the Heat willing to pay him, and for how long?
None of this means a divorce is inevitable, but it is unlikely that these contract negotiations will be settled quickly. At the very least, for the Heat and Wade to remain together it seems as if there will have to be some big concessions from both sides.
NOW WATCH: LEBRON VS. CURRY: Heres how the NBAs biggest superstars match up
ESPN First Take Today (6/29/2016) - Dwyane Wade & LeBron James? Kevin Durant?
It seems weird imagining Dwyane Wade in anything other than a Miami Heat uniform.
Wade has been there since 2003. He"s a three-time champion with the Heat. He"s as much a part of that organization as Pat Riley, Alonzo Mourning or even Micky Arison. They have a "Heat Lifer" business branding that he embodies perfectly. However, for the second straight summer, we"re looking at the Heat and Wade struggling to see eye-to-eye on a contract for the future Hall of Famer.
Once again, Wade wants more money and security than the Heat apparently are willing to offer right now. That"s causing Wade to look elsewhere to put pressure on the team to come through and pay him. Since he"s at the end of his prime, getting one more big deal makes sense for Wade. But the Heat have an incentive for keeping his cost relatively low and making that agreement happen sooner rather that later.
With the gap between Wade and the Heat happening again, ESPN"s Brian Windhorst went on Miami radio and said Wade"s representatives have recently reached out to a couple of teams, including the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks, about potential interest.
Via Pro Basketball Talk:
Over the last 24, 72 hours, Dwyane"s representatives have been calling around the league to several teams. Not to every team, not to 29 teams, but to a few teams and have said to them, "Hey, Dwyane is going to be available and is going to take offers."
I know San Antonio is one of the teams that"s been contacted. I know Dallas is one of the teams that"s been contacted.
How much should either side try to call a potential bluff here?
For the Heat, Wade doesn"t want to leave Miami. It"s his home and he"s built an incredible career. He could be one of the last superstars, much like Kobe Bryant, to spend his entire career with one team. That"s meaningful for everybody involved. But they also have to make sure they have the flexibility to use any potential cap space when Kevin Durant, Hassan Whiteside or any other free agent target they have this summer is still available.
Wade agreed to a one-year, $20 million deal last summer when he had these same issues coming to an agreement on a long-term deal with the Heat. This summer, he has a $30 million cap hold as the Heat retain the right to go over the cap to sign him. But really, the only way they have an abundance of cap space this summer is either by Wade signing elsewhere right away or coming to an agreement with the shooting guard quickly for a deal with an annual salary number much lower than his $30 million cap hold.
They don"t have Whiteside"s full Bird rights, which means they can"t just go over the salary cap to re-sign him. That limits their flexibility greatly.
For Wade, he has to weigh just how much of this strategy is a threat and how much of it could be a reality. Another future Hall of Famer, Paul Pierce, was supposed to spend his entire career with the Boston Celtics. Then they traded him to the Brooklyn Nets and since then he"s been nomadic in his signings. He signed with the Washington Wizards before finding his way back to Doc Rivers to play for the Los Angeles Clippers. It won"t sully his career in any way, but it does keep him from that one franchise distinction some guys really desire.
Wade on the San Antonio Spurs would likely have to come at a salary reduction. It"s unlikely they"ll give him a huge, long-term deal. They"re trying to find their own flexibility in possibly adding someone like Mike Conley or Pau Gasol or maybe even Kevin Durant. Wade could fit with Gasol in their salary cap space but again, he"s not getting paid the number he"s likely seeking from Miami.
The Dallas Mavericks have much more flexibility in what they can offer, but after committing so much money to Wes Matthews at the shooting guard position, throwing big money at Wade also seems unlikely. Although, they"ve struck out so much on free agency over the last few years that maybe they"d want a win in convincing Wade to come to their team as a lead guard.
Either way, one of these sides will have to blink at some point and do it soon for the Heat"s sake of continuing to strengthen their roster.
Dwyane Wade may look into signing with the San Antonio Spurs or Dallas Mavericks. USATSI
