Dwyane Wade is already a champion. So whether or not the All-Star shooting guard leads the Miami Heat to their third NBA title, he’ll celebrate the same way many other sports stars do at the end of a successful
season. He’s going to Disney World. But not because of team tradition. He was simply outvoted.
“I’m the kind of parent who asks my kids questions like what would be your ideal thing to do in the summer? This year it’s Disney World,” explains Wade, the proud father of two boys— Zaire, 11, and Zion, 5— and legal guardian to his nephew Dahveon Morris, 11. “Even though I make the final decision, I want them to feel involved. Not only in vacations but other things as well.”
8-year-old brother to live with his father, Dwyane Sr.— a move that became pivotal in shaping Wade’s identity and values as a man.
This approach to child-rearing is in stark contrast to the Chicago native’s upbringing. Wade’s parents separated when he was only a few months old and the only thing the little guy had any control over was the television remote. Distracted by episodes of Knight Rider and Tom and Jerry, the youngster was oblivious to his mother’s heroin and alcohol addictions. Luckily his older sister Tragil wasn’t. She decided to take her then
“Dwyane came up not having a father around, so he didn’t think he was missing anything,” says his mother Jolinda Wade, who has been drug-free and sober for the past decade. “But having his father take over the key role in parenting was very impactful. That was the first view he got as a young man to see what to do and what not to do.”
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