Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade made headlines last week when he challenged Pearl Jam to a game of basketball when the band visits the American Airlines Arena this weekend as their North America tour kicks off.

Wade offered the band the key to the arena and the Seattle rockers responded with a funny video of their own. Now, Wade has broken his silence on the topic after practice today, telling the Sun Sentinel, that the only connection between him and the band is that “they put out an album the year I was born, that’s probably the only connection.” Wade, obviously joking, did grow up in the same state as Eddie Vedder, with the Marquette star coming from Robbins, IL and Vedder hailing from Evanston, IL.

“They’re coming to a place where I call my home, and I gave them the key to the house to come in anytime,” he added. The article also notes that Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is a big Pearl Jam fan. Spoelstra famously admitted
to nearly turning down his initial interview with the Heat to attend a Grateful Dead show in 1995.

In an interview with the Sun Sentinel, Mike McCready also said, “I’d love to go down and shoot some baskets on the court down there. I know Jeff [Ament] and Ed were talking about it.”

The guitarist added, referring to the departed Seattle Sonics, “We all love basketball, so it would be fun. We don’t have a team here anymore, so we gotta get what we can get.”

Pearl Jam will hit the stage in Miami on April 9 following their tour opener in Ft. Lauderdale the previous evening.