DWYANE WADE looked into the camera, stood alone in the middle of a darkened room and talked for 10 minutes. He struggled with his words at times, unable to control his emotions. He wept.

And finally, he made what he called the hardest decision of his life.

One more year.

Retirement needs to wait a little bit longer for Wade, who announced Sunday night in a video taped earlier in the day that he’s returning for a 16th and final NBA season. He basically spent the entirety of the last four months weighing his options, and retirement — even just a few days ago — was an extremely real possibility in his mind.

“I’ve always did things my way,” said Wade, who is expected to sign a US$2.4 million, one-year deal later. “Whether they’ve good or whether they’ve been bad, I got here because I’ve done things the way that I feel is right for me and right for my family. And what I feel is right ... I feel it’s right to ask you guys to join me for one last dance, for one last season.

“This is it. I’ve given this game everything that I have, and I’m happy about that, and I’m going to give it for one last season, everything else I have left.”

Wade is Miami’s career leader in points, assists, steals and games played. His status was an enormous question mark this summer, especially now with the team a week away from going to training camp. Miami has signed 19 players for camp, one shy of the maximum preseason allotment, and it was never a question why they kept that last spot open.

Wade’s return basically means that Miami will have the same team this coming season as it had last season, when it claimed the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. (SD-Agencies)