Making it in professional sports often remains a farfetched dream for most. After all, only the cream of the crop makes the cut, especially to the upper echelons of pro sports.
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Sometimes the dream is fueled by passion, while in other instances, financial considerations make the decision. One such legend of the game who had financial concerns driving him to make it pro was Miami‘s own Dwyane Wade.
The Flash grew up in a “ghetto” in Chicago. And in the event of launching his photo memoir “Dwyane”, located on the South Side of Chicago, Wade reminisced about his past and his hoop dreams.
Amassing a net worth of $200 million while winning 3 NBA championships and becoming the All-Time top scorer of an NBA franchise was probably even beyond Wade’s wildest dreams though. After all, all a young Wade wanted was to get his family out of the ghetto.
Dwyane Wade claimed he was unsure about life and was only hoping to play basketball professionally.
The Heat legend told Business Insider about a particular photograph from his memoirs and what it represented. To Wade, it appears the photograph he was referring to, stands for the doubt and struggles of his past.
Describing the same, Wade said “That photo is powerful to me because I remember the conversations that was going on in the house. I remember the doubt that was in my [head], you know what I mean? Like, I remember all these things. I remember not being sure about life. I remember having a dream to buy my mom a house, get my family out of the ghetto. You know, one day, hopefully play basketball. Like I had all these dreams in the house”.
The Flash went on to describe the conditions he lived in further in his book. Wade describes how cracked concrete walls and rusty gates were a feature of his life. A far cry from the $11 million worth castle and the $22 million mansion in Miami which Wade sold in 2021.
Truly an inspiring story indeed. Miami is Wade County now, something the young boy from Chicago didn’t even dare to dream about.
And Dwyane Wade isn’t one to forget his roots. The Flash has gone on to become an inspiring champion for his community.
Wade has engaged in various charitable activities and community upliftment during and after his career.
Wade, as someone who hailed from humble beginnings, has worked towards the benefit of the less fortunate over the years through various means. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wade was involved in the “All In Challenge” and donated to the providing food and relief to the affected.
There was also a series of donations made to organizations supporting health care for the LGBTQ community. This was probably also inspired by his own daughter, Zaya, coming out as a trans woman in 2019.
Wade also contributed to the upliftment of inner-city children and is the patron for the ‘Live to Dream’ summer reading program.
Beyond donations, Wade has also incorporated and made attempts to assimilate people from the African-American community into his business ventures. The Heat star revealed the same in light with the launch of his wine and food experience, ‘When We Gather’.
The boy from the ghetto has certainly made his mark on his community.
