The wake-up calls for Dwyane Wade were coming at 5:45am for much of the summer.
An hour or so later, he and LeBron James would be in the gym together working on their games.
And the chemistry was as good as ever.
"He drives me to want to be better," Wade said.
They'll be grinding together on a daily basis now.
Wade signed a one-year, $2.3 million ($A2.9 million) deal with Cleveland on Wednesday to reunite with James, with whom he went to four NBA Finals and won two championships in Miami.
Wade's deal was finalised quickly after he cleared waivers, which he had to do after getting a buyout from Chicago over the weekend.
"I'm all about the challenge," Wade told The Associated Press.
"If I didn't want the challenge, I would have stayed in Chicago.
"But I wanted the challenge of being back on that big stage and playing in those moments and seeing what I've got."
He has other options but in the end, he wanted to play again with James, someone Wade calls his brother.
"I definitely think I can help him in different ways," Wade said.
"He is, in today's game, the greatest basketball player that we have.
"So he doesn't need me to help him be great."
Earlier Wednesday, James said he feels like a little kid having Wade with him again.
"Come on, man, this is like one of my best friends," James said after the first of the Cavaliers' two practices on the day - the second set to be Wade's first with his new team.
Wade and James will now join forces on a Cleveland team that saw Kyrie Irving traded to Boston and the roster get remodelled by adding Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, former league MVP Derrick Rose and free agents Jeff Green and Jose Calderon.
Wade has said many times that a fourth ring isn't a make-or-break goal for him. His legacy is secure. He's a certain Hall of Famer. He's one of the best to ever play the game.
That doesn't mean another title is irrelevant, though.
"I want to compete for it," Wade said.
The Cavaliers have been to the last three NBA Finals; add the Miami years in there, and James has been to the title round in seven consecutive seasons.
Wade hasn't played a June game since 2014.
He's hoping that changes in 2018.
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