NBA legend Dwyane Wade opened up about the tumultuous and powerful journey that his son, Zaire Wade, has been on in his pursuit of his professional basketball career. Zaire has struggled to make a name for himself thus far, however, Wade provided words of reassurance on the “beauty of the struggle”, which he had to embrace in his hardships.
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On Wade’s podcast ‘The Wine Down’ he provided a quite candid outlook on Zaire’s struggles to find success at the professional level of his basketball career.
DWade talking about Zaire and his struggle pic.twitter.com/hkAriZJyEK
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“I love the beauty of the struggle. The journey is really where the excitement, where you feel alive. But we all want to get to the final destination. The final destination is where you have arrived. That ain’t as fun as the journey,” said Wade.
Wade is well-versed in being an appreciator of the journey. Despite being a successful basketball player in high school, and setting multiple school records, he was recruited by only three Division 1 programs due to low ACT scores.
He would suffer consequences for not meeting the academic eligibility requirements for Division 1 sports, which forced him to be sidelined during his freshman year at Marquette. Despite starting his collegiate career at a disadvantage, Wade evolved into a Marquette legend, leading the program to their third Final Four appearance in program history.
The knowledge and experience he gained from his journey have allowed him to give his son a perspective that combats the outside noise of others.
“To watch Zaire get up every day and chase something when everybody telling him he shouldn’t chase it… ‘You’re not as good as your dad’… There’s beauty in that,” said Wade.
Zaire was a very good high school basketball player but wasn’t ready for the difference in the skill level of the competition at the next stage. His lack of size and strength led him to be picked apart on defense, and holes in his offensive game didn’t make up for his lapses on the other end,
Although once members of the same high school team together at Sierra Canyon, Zaire hasn’t been as fortunate as Bronny James in following their father’s footsteps to the NBA. However, he hasn’t let that keep him discouraged from pursuing his dream.
Zaire’s basketball journey thus far
At just 22 years old, Zaire is still very young with a lot of basketball ahead of him. Wade decided to go against the grain from the collegiate route and opted to play professionally in the NBA G League.
He was drafted the 10th overall pick in the 2021 NBA G League Draft by the Salt Lake City Stars. Zaire suited up for 13 games with the Stars and averaged a measly 4.6 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.9 assists on an abysmal 36.2 percent shooting. A season-ending injury would conclude his first and only season in the G-League in an undesirable fashion.
The following season, he agreed on a contract to join the Cape Town Tigers of the BAL for a single season, where he was much more impactful. Although the sample size of his time with the Tigers is short with just four games, Zaire showed improvement averaging 9.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. His final game with the Tigers marked his best performance as a pro, finishing with 17 points and five assists.
Zaire is very much still in the pursuit of his NBA dreams with his current professional stint as a member of the Macau Black Bears of the ASEAN Basketball League.
