Jay-Z Won’t Affect Dwyane Wade’s Free Agency

Despite mentioning him in the hit song “Empire State of Mind” (in a cocaine reference, no less), D-Wade assures the Miami Herald that Jay won’t have any say in what he decides to do this summer: “Although Jay Z’s reference in the song fell well short of violating tampering rules, Wade embraced the shout-out. In the song, Jay Z raps: ‘Me, I gotta plug [rapper] Special Ed. I Got It Made. If (rapper) Jeezy’s paying LeBron [James], I’m paying Dwyane Wade.’ ‘With Jay, there’s no telling what he meant,’ Wade said when asked about the song. ‘But just to be mentioned in a song that great — because Jay’s one of the greatest who ever did it — it’s really big.’ Wade has maintained at every potential NBA recruiting stop that he prefers to re-sign with Miami. But that hasn’t stopped the speculation, expected during the Heat’s three-day stay in Wade’s hometown for Thursday’s game against Chicago. ‘I’ll talk to people I need to before making a decision,’ Wade said recently. ‘I don’t know if Jay is one of them.”’