MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 03: A Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat fan takes a photo outside American Airlines Arena prior to the game between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics on April 03, 2019 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
As Dwyane Wade prepares to play the final few games of his career, Budweiser has a reminder that his legacy is about much more than basketball.
Dwyane Wade has two more regular season games left in his storied career. If the Heat make the playoffs, he may get a few more chances for a signature moment in a career that is littered with them. But, at some point in the next few weeks, Wade will play his final NBA game.
Throughout this final season, Wade has finished each game by exchanging jerseys with an opposing player, building an incredibly symbolic collection of memorabilia reflecting his place in the league and his relationship with both contemporaries and mentees.
In a new Budweiser ad, Wade was gifted a few more items for his collection. Watch the video before reading any further, and make sure you have some tissues handy.
Inspiration. Financial support for those in need. Giving a platform to those whose voices have been taken away. Literally lifting up his own family, functionally and emotionally. This video is not really about Wade the basketball player but a testament to his incredible exploits as a human being.
Wade will always have a place in the pantheon of NBA greats and enshrinement in the Hall of Fame is a foregone conclusion, simply a matter of waiting until he’s eligible. But his advocacy and charity work off the court is just as impressive, if less well known, and does just as much to mark him as one of the greatest athletes and ambassadors the NBA has ever known.
We won’t have the honor of seeing Wade on a basketball court again after this season but he clearly won’t be disappearing from public life and it appears he has plenty more life-changing work to do.