Taking Cues From Shadow Boxing, Dwyane Wade Explains How He Trains His Daughter Kaavia on the Basketball Court

There are quite a few NBA players in the league right now whose dads also played pro ball. From Steph Curry to Jalen Brunson, Cole Anthony to Bol Bol, and Domantas Sabonis to Tim Hardaway Jr., they’re everywhere. It makes sense because, not only did these guys inherit their dads’ “gifted athlete” genes, but they also had access to the best training from someone who knows what it takes to become a pro.

Dwyane Wade has famously said that he has no interest in coaching in the NBA, but that hasn’t stopped him from coaching and training his kids. That even extends to his six-year-old daughter Kaavia, and he spoke a bit on the most recent episode of The Why podcast about what he does that differs from the norm.

The conversation began with Chris Johnson, Wade’s longtime trainer and friend, detailing how he incorporates elements of shadow boxing into his training methods. Johnson explained that too often, boxers become robotic because they learn the basics of footwork and punching the bag, but they never learn how to apply that in the ring. Basketball is the same way.

“How important is your corner shadow boxer, your coach? He’s important because he’s teaching you rhythm, he’s teaching you how to protect yourself, he’s teaching you movement, how to use your body. In our system, that’s what we’re doing,” said Johnson.

Wade expanded on Johnson’s point, and he used Kaavia as an example. “When I put her on the court right now, I give her a time to just go be free… Just try anything. Have imagination, be creative, visualize something. Yeah, we can dribble right, left, go here, go there, but I want you to be so free in your mind and your creativity that you feel that you can accomplish and do anything out here.”

Dwyane Wade has tried to get his kids into the game

Kaavia’s older siblings have also gotten instruction from their dad, and to varying degrees, it’s paid off. Zaire Wade played briefly in the G League for the Salt Lake City Stars, an affiliate of the Utah Jazz, whom Wade has a minority ownership stake in.

Zaire only played 12 games before injuring his knee, but he’s since played professionally in Africa and Asia. He also landed a sponsorship deal with Li-Ning, who gave him his own shoe, called the “Son of Flash.”

Wade once held out hope that his daughter Zaya would become a basketball player, but after she came out as transgender, he realized that he was just projecting his own dreams onto her. “See what happens when you start making plans for other people’s lives?” he asked on an appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast.

That experience shaped the way Wade approaches the game with Kaavia, and he now gives her the space to be who and what she wants to be, basketball or not.