Dwyane Wade may have been the first person outside Kobe’s family to know he was going to retire this season. That’s because the two stars had an unexpected conversation inside American Airlines arena in Miami before the Lakers and Heat faced off last month.

@IamJoeSports

Most of the world found out last week that Kobe was going to retire at the end of this season for sure. Back on November 10th however, a conversation that took place while Kobe had an ice bath gave Wade the early heads up that Kobe was going to call it quits.

The following is courtesy of Rachel Nichols and a talk she had with Wade.

Way too long for 140 characters, but here’s the Kobe story Dwyane Wade told me. This was last month, the night before the Heat hosted the Lakers here in Miami. Wade decided to stop by the arena and get in a soak in the cold tub. He goes through the Heat’s locker-room area, back over to the training room, and who is already just sitting there in the tub…Kobe Bryant.

Wade told me in the 13 years he’s played for the Heat, he’s never ever seen Pat Riley let an opposing player into the inner sanctum like that, using the team’s facilities and that, frankly, he was shocked. Of course, that’s the respect that Kobe has earned, and the two old friends had a great, long talk.

At the end of it, Kobe asked Dwyane if his sons were coming to the game the next night. Dwyane said ‘no,’ as it was a school night, and Kobe said, ‘you know what, bring them; I think it’s going to be my last time here.’ Dwyane brought the boys, they got a lifetime memory after the game, taking pictures with Kobe, and the Wade family got a little sneak preview of Kobe’s retirement announcement before anyone else.

Pretty cool stuff. It pays to be the kids of famous athletes with famous friends.