Dwyane Wade

Dwyane Wade Speaker Biography

NBA Champion, Former Miami Heat Guard & Entrepreneur

As a three-time NBA Champion, Olympic Gold medalist, and thirteen-time NBA All-Star, Dwyane Wade has experienced a whirlwind career. In 2021, Wade was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary team, representing the 75 greatest players in NBA history.

Miami HEAT

Dwyane joined the Miami HEAT as the fifth pick of the 2003 NBA Draft. In his first season, the Chicago-area native who also flashed his athletic brilliance for Marquette University, achieved NBA All-Rookie Team status. In 2006, Dwyane led his team to the city’s first-ever NBA Championship. Dwyane represented the United States in the 2004 Athens Summer Games and brought home the GOLD representing the USA in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. In 2012 and 2013, Dwyane won his second and third NBA Championships. Dwyane rejoined the Miami HEAT in February 2018 after playing with the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers. During the 2018-19 season, he became the third player in NBA history to record at least 20,000 points, 5,000 assists, 4,000 rebounds, 1,500 steals, 800 blocks, and 500 three-pointers. He was also recognized for achieving the most blocked shots than any guard in NBA history.

Retirement

Dwyane officially retired from the NBA after sixteen years following his 2018-19 season. His #OneLastDance farewell tour included jersey exchanges, gifts, and video tributes, as well as celebrations and toasts with NBA legends, teammates, and friends tied to NBA All-Star Weekend, his final home game in Miami, and the final game of his career against the Brooklyn Nets. Dwyane partnered with Bleacher Report on a D. Wade World Tour apparel series to celebrate the final season of his career and pay tribute to his influence on and off the court.

Fashion

Off the court, Dwyane is readily recognized as a style icon and for paving the way for the NBA fashion revolution. He launched his annual A Night on the RunWade event in 2012 to celebrate his passion for fashion. Dwyane was selected as an ambassador for the first Men’s Fashion Week in New York City in 2015. He attends fashion week in New York and overseas. He has attended the CFDA Awards in 2015, 2016, and 2017 and the Met Gala in 2015 and 2019. Dwyane has been able to incorporate his passion for design into his partnerships. In 2017, he collaborated with DSquared2 on a capsule collection for Saks and was the first athlete to partner with Amazon Fashion to create a brand Wade store.

Business Partnerships

Dwyane continues to build his brand off the court with business partnerships including Away, PKWY, Li-Ning, Gatorade, MISSION, BallerTV, Spades Royale, Wade Cellars, 800° Woodfired Kitchen, and The COLLECTION.

Li-Ning

In 2018, Dwyane signed a landmark lifetime deal with Li-Ning to continue to grow his Way of Wade brand of basketball and lifestyle apparel. There are currently eleven Wade retail stores across China. He also serves as a global ambassador for Li-Ning hosting cross-regional youth basketball camps and the annual Way of Wade China Tour.

Wine

Dwyane partnered with Away on two sold-out luggage collections including a wine carrier in the second collection to celebrate his passion for wine. His wine partnership, Wade Cellars, currently features Wade Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2014, and Three by Wade, which includes a 2014 California red wine blend, a 2015 Napa Valley red blend, and the 2017 California rosé.

PKWY

Dwyane is the co-founder and CEO of PKWY, an affordable socks company. The joint venture with his long-time partner Stance brings his unique sense of design to a high-quality sock priced to appeal to the mass consumer market. PKWY is currently available at retailers across the country including Kohl’s and Target. In addition to lifestyle collections, PKWY has licensing agreements with the NBA and Major League Baseball.

Forty-Three

Forty-Three is a joint company created by Dwyane and his former Miami HEAT teammate Udonis Haslem. The company is named after their respective jersey numbers. 800° Woodfired Kitchen is the company’s first venture. They are the owners and operators of the Aventura, Florida location. Dwyane is a partner of 800° Woodfired Kitchen on a brand level internationally, and locally, as a franchise partner.

Television

In development with his production company, 59th & Prairie Entertainment, Dwyane served as an executive producer on the Sports Emmy-nominated documentary, Shot in the Dark, with FOX Sports with Chance the Rapper. 59th and Prairie has also partnered with Imagine Documentaries on an upcoming documentary chronicling Dwyane’s NBA career and life off the court during his final year in the league. In 2018, Dwyane and his wife Gabrielle Union participated in an HGTV series about flipping a home in a suburban Florida neighborhood. He launched the YouTube series Wade’s Kitchen Convos with Chef Richard Ingraham in 2018.

Harvard Business School

In 2015, Dwyane completed the Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports program at Harvard University. His approach to brand partnerships in a Harvard Business School case study called Dwyane Wade is taught in both the MBA and Executive Education Programs. In 2018, he was appointed as an Executive Fellow.

Jr. NBA World Championship

Dwyane serves as a global ambassador for the Jr. NBA World Championship, a first-of-its-kind global youth basketball tournament for the top boys and girls teams ages fourteen and under from around the world.

Books

Dwyane’s proudest accomplishment is being a father. In March 2011, in a landmark legal decision, he earned sole custody of his sons, effectively setting a new precedent for professional male athletes. In September 2012, Dwyane became a New York Times bestselling author with the release of his first book, A Father First: How My Life Became Bigger than Basketball. His photographic memoir, Dwyane, shares his inspiring journey through hundreds of photos from Wade’s life on and off the court and features never-before-seen images.

Philanthropy

Dwyane recognizes his true accomplishments go far beyond the basketball court. He launched his Spotlight On initiative in 2016 after the loss of his cousin to gun violence in Chicago. The initiative aims to give youth hope for a better future by shining a spotlight on youth in the community who are actively changing the city for the better and are leading and empowering others to make change happen. He continued his activism against gun violence by supporting the Parkland students in their efforts through March for Our Lives and launching a Parkland 17 art exhibit at Florida Art Walk to honor the seventeen lives lost and to bring awareness to the need for stronger gun control laws.

Awards

In June 2013, Dwyane received a Humanitarian Award at the BET Awards for his commitment to excellence and dedication to community and worldly charitable causes. He also received the NBA’s 2012- 2013 Community Assist Award in recognition of his efforts in the community and his philanthropic and charitable work. In 2015, he was inducted into the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s Sports Hall of Champions. In 2017, Dwyane was awarded the Mannie Jackson Human Spirit Award.

Dwyane lives with his wife Gabrielle Union and their children.