When the Miami Heat selected Dwyane Wade with the fifth pick of the 2003 NBA draft, the league was in desperate need of star players to make it through the Michael Jordan era.
to Wade draft class — which also featured LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony — ended up fitting the bill and then some. Wade quickly became one of the league’s most popular players, and his Miami teammate Shaquille O’Neal gave him a catchy nickname. Flash. That’s right — Wade regularly attacked the rim with fun spin moves and finished it off with highlight-reel dunks and layups en route to winning three championships.
This weekend, Wade will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, a feat that seemed inevitable as he accumulated accolades over a 16-year career. He made 13 All-Star teams, led the league in scoring once and was named the most valuable player of the 2006 NBA finals, which Miami won over Dallas.
“To be one of the select few in an entire generation of people who tried to play basketball and get into the Hall of Fame, it doesn’t matter if I knew 10 years ago or I just got the call yesterday — it all feels surreal,” Wade said in a recent interview.
Since retiring in 2019, Wade has acquired an ownership stake in the Utah Jazz and her hometown Chicago WNBA team, the Sky. In the spring, Wade announced that he had moved his family out of Florida in California due to state laws that negatively affect the LGBTQ community. Wade’s teenage daughter, Zaya, is transgender, and Wade has been outspoken in speaking out for her.
Wade recently spoke with The New York Times about his basketball career and potential run for political office.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
You grew up on the South Side of Chicago without much. When you retired, former President Barack Obama taped a tribute video to you. How do you reflect on that journey?
My dad and I were talking about it. We still can’t believe it. We still can’t believe that NBA career happened and it’s gone. I got a call from President Obama on my birthday when I turned 40, and it was like: “Hey, pick up the phone this time. There’s a call coming in.” I was like, “OK.” After I got in, I heard, “You’re waiting for the president of the United States.” I was like: “What? This is my life, right?”
Your first NBA game was against Allen Iverson. You’re having a bit of a full-circle moment this weekend by having her induct you. Why did you choose him?
Michael Jordan is my favorite player. But when I was growing up as a kid, when Michael Jordan decided to retire from the game, Allen Iverson became our culture’s hero. I think a lot of people know that I wear No. 3, but many people don’t know why I wear No. 3. And so I just want to take this moment as an opportunity that should be about me, and I want to give light and give flowers to the individuals who allow me and help me get here. My family, of course. My coaches, of course. Of course my friends.
But what about the individuals who gave you a picture of what it looks like and how it can be done? And Allen Iverson gave me the image of what it looked like, how it could be done coming from the broken community that I came from. So I want to give her her flowers in front of the world because she deserves it.
Putting you next to Dirk Nowitzki, who with you, let’s call it a tense relationship at points. What is your relationship with him now?
I respect Dirk as one of the greatest players to ever play the game of basketball. It’s fun to be with someone and we haven’t watched each other yet. We played completely different positions, but like I always say, if I had any words for anyone, I’d like them to get to the finals.
Dirk and I have played in the finals against each other twice. His team won once. My team won one. So I call it a wash. And I’m thankful to be a part of the class I belong to. And Dirk for me — and no shade to anyone who played — but I think Dirk will probably be looked at as the greatest international player we’ve ever seen.
You’ve spoken at length about your advocacy on behalf of the transgender community, especially your own son. What is your reaction to the Orlando Magic? donated $50,000 to the super PAC affiliated with Gov. Florida’s Ron DeSantis? (DeSantis supported what opponents called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, a law signed last year that limits what instructors can teach about sexuality and gender in classrooms. The Magic’s donation was dated May 19, just days before DeSantis announced a ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.)
I have so many things to focus on and so many, so many battles to fight, in a sense. That’s what I don’t choose to fight for, in so many things where my voice is needed. People will do what people want to do. And there’s nothing you can do to stop them, per se. And so I try to help where needed and where I can.
There were some reports this spring that the Florida Democrats were recruiting you to run for Senate.
[Laughter] I heard that.
Have you ever been approached to run for office?
Yes.
So describe to me what that method is.
I mean, just talk. “Hey, you’re good at,” “Hey, we’ll see you,” “We want you in.”
These are the things I enjoy that I will speak and speak for. And so I don’t play political games. I don’t know much about it.
But I also understand that I have a duty as an American citizen and as a celebrity to be able to highlight and speak about things that other people may not be able to do because they don’t have the opportunity to do so.
That’s why you run.
[Laughter]
I’ll just see if I can make you spicy. I’m sure you saw some of the comments Paul Pierce made comparing the two of you. He said different things. But one of the things he said — I will do it read the quote — “Put Shaq on my team. Include LeBron and Bosh. I won’t even win one? You don’t think me, LeBron and Bosh, we can’t win one? Can’t we win as a couple?”
What was your reaction when you saw what Paul said about you?
I now live rent-free.
I’ve had a lot of things happen in my life. Comparing myself to someone who doesn’t play or someone who plays is definitely not on my to-do list. Listen, Paul Pierce is one of the best players we’ve had in our game. And I think, you know, when you’re a great player and you don’t get the attention that you think your game deserves, sometimes you have to take whatever attention those straws are at. And Paul believes he’s a better player than me. He should believe that. That’s why he’s so good. That’s not my argument, and I didn’t play to be better than Paul Pierce. I played the game the way I played, and I made the sacrifices I made. Everyone doesn’t want to sacrifice.
I was able to become a star. I was able to become Robin. I was able to be a part of Larry, Curly and Moe, whatever. I was able to be successful and efficient in all those areas.
It’s easy to say what you will do if you have a certain talent on your team, but you have to play with that talent. And that’s the hardest thing to do — to play the talent of different generations and different styles, which I’ve done.
How does it feel to watch old highlights of yourself now that you’re 41?
I just finished watching the 2005-2006 edit. I think it was 45 minutes. I watched for about 15 minutes. I walked away from that edit, and I was just looking at the way I played and I was wrapped.
Nowadays, we have children. And I like what development is going on, but the kids are working on their moves. I just reacted to the defenders. My moves came from just reacting, and those are the moves that are being studied and highlighted today. I just played basketball like I was back in Chicago playing with my uncles and my dad and my family.
So I love watching old highlights of myself because, honestly, I haven’t seen a lot of people in my game and my style. And so it is unique. And I’m grateful to have one of those games that no one can understand how good I am.