Dwyane Wade Talks Becoming a Bull, Fatherhood, & More

Dwyane Wade looks sharp on the cover of Michigan Avenue magazine’s Winter issue.

Here’s what the 34-year-old NBA star shared with the mag:

On what was appealing about becoming a Chicago Bull: “One thing I always said to myself and to my fans was that if I ever wanted or had to leave Miami for whatever reason, I wanted it to be [to return to] Chicago. How many times do you get the chance to have the career I had [there] and still live out a life-long dream of playing back in your hometown, where your vision of becoming a NBA player started? Even though my career has been amazing�”I’ve had way more highs than I’ve had lows�”this is to me a great opportunity to control my destiny and do what I want to do with my career.”

On the importance of fatherhood: “My appreciation’s always been there. I know how important my dad was in my life for sure, and I knew that I wanted to play a bigger role in my kids’ lives. I’ve always thought that’s one of the most important things I have to do in my life; when God allowed me to be a father of my boys, I knew that was my most important job�”to help raise future leaders in this world, and hopefully we can succeed in our dream of doing that.”

On professional athletes protesting racial inequality by taking a knee during the national anthem: “I love the fact that athletes are using their platform�”they’re using their voice and getting behind the things that they believe in. We all have freedom of speech; we all have the right to say and do the things we want, and they’re doing it, so I applaud them for it. I’m one of the guys who got on stage [with Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, and LeBron James] at the ESPY Awards [and gave] a call to action to athletes to stand up and use their voice, so it’s great to see athletes doing that.”

Click here to see Dwyane on stage at the 2016 ESPY Awards.

For more from Dwyane, visit MichiganAveMag.com.