NEED TO KNOW
Dwyane Wade opened up about his mindset amid retirement from the NBA in his recent GQ Hype cover story
The Hall of Famer revealed what he misses most about the game since hanging up his jersey in 2019
Wade also spoke about his upcoming onscreen ventures
Dwyane Wade is retired, but that doesn’t mean his competitive drive has stopped.
The former NBA star, 43, is reflecting on his time in the league, which spanned three different teams over his 16-season career, and pinpoints what he misses the most since hanging up his jersey in 2019 in a new cover interview for GQ Hype.
“What I do miss is being better than people,” Wade said in an interview published on Thursday, Oct. 16. “I miss being good at something, really good at it.”
Mike Ehrmann/Getty; Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty; David E. Klutho /Sports Illustrated via Getty
Dwyane Wade.
Wade was selected fifth overall in the 2003 NBA draft by the Miami Heat, where he spent the majority of his career and solidified his icon status. He won three NBA championships with the franchise and became the team’s all-time leader in points, assists and steals.
In July 2016, Wade left Miami for quick stints with the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers before being traded back to the Heat in February 2018. He retired his No. 3 jersey with the Heat the next year.
“When you had the career I had, you don’t envy someone else’s journey,” Wade told the outlet. “I got everything out of the game of basketball that I possibly wanted.”
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Dwyane Wade and Jenna Bush Hager cohost “Jenna & Friends.”
After a career filled with competitiveness, energy, bright lights and adrenaline — not to mention, winning — Wade admitted to the difficulties of filling that void in retirement.
“What else are you going to do? I retired at 37. There’s no way I’m just going to sit around,” he said. “I wouldn’t be fulfilled, and people would not want to be around me.”
Elsewhere in the GQ Hype feature, Wade opened up about his pivot to broadcasting.
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Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union pose with their family in October 2024.
Wade is set to join Amazon Prime Video, which will air NBA games for the first time this season. His duties will rotate between in-game commentator and studio analyst, both of which he has experience in doing for sporting events in the past.
Also keeping Wade busy are his dad duties as a father raising five kids.
The retired athlete shares two children with ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches: Zaire, 23, and Zaya, 18, as well as a son, Xavier, 11, with Aja Metoyer.
In 2018, Wade and his wife, actress Gabrielle Union, welcomed a daughter, Kaavia James, 5. Wade is also the legal guardian of his nephew, Dahveon Morris, 21.
Read the original article on People