Golden opportunity just made for Wade
Olympic and NBA star again doing something positive for Chicago
South Side native Dwyane Wade cheered for the Cubs at Wrigley Field this week but insists he has plenty of love for the White Sox as well.
''I'm neutral,'' he said. ''I support Chicago sports. Besides the Bulls, I support everyone else. I grew up a fan of Frank Thomas, and I loved Sammy Sosa when he was with the Cubs.
(John J. Kim/Sun-Times)
''We're from the South Side, but for some reason everyone else in my family is a Cubs fan. We actually went to the game Tuesday night. Of course they lost, but I think the Cubs are the best team in baseball. It's also exciting to see the White Sox in first place, too. It's amazing that both teams might be in the playoffs.''
Fresh off his gold-medal experience with USA basketball's Redeem Team, Wade is in town for the ''Young, Fly and Flashy'' weekend of events to benefit his Wade's World Foundation and other local programs. He also made time to participate in Oprah Winfrey's Olympic show that was taped Wednesday at Millennium Park.
''Everyone wants to go on 'Oprah,''' he said. ''If Oprah calls, you [say yes] -- just to get an opportunity to do it, and especially to get to do it with the other Olympic athletes. When I got on stage and was looking at the crowd, I was like, wow. I was hugging Oprah and I gave her a kiss on the cheek, and I was like, 'This is a pinch-me moment.'''
The 2000 Richards graduate, who took Marquette to the Final Four and the Miami Heat to an NBA championship, was asked where Olympic gold ranked in his achievements.
''The NBA championship was something I always dreamed of,'' he said. ''I never dreamed of the gold medal as a kid. It's something I started dreaming of as an adult. But the blood, sweat and tears it took to make it to that point made it that much sweeter. It just gives you that sense of joy and satisfaction.
''The way that we did it, the team that we did it with, made it special. I was explaining to the guys that if you have a to-do list in your life to check off, for me, making it to the NBA was No. 1, then winning the championship, winning the gold medal and going on 'Oprah.' All those are on the top of the list.''
Because of his deep ties to Chicago, Wade frequently is the subject of rumored trades to the Bulls. He takes the conjecture in stride.
''I haven't been asked anything about the Bulls since I left to go to the Olympics, but it will come back next summer,'' he said. ''I'm a Chicago guy. It's an easy story to write about. And in two years when my contract is up, I'm sure it's going to be even more talked about. But I have so much to focus on in my job with Miami that I can't think about the Bulls now.''
But he never stops thinking about Chicago's youth. ''CeaseFire,'' the Chicago Project's new intervention program to reduce violence and shootings in area communities and schools, is one program that will benefit from the weekend's events, which begin tonight with a Joseph Abboud Fashion Display at Hotel Sax.
''Kids are close to my heart,'' Wade said. ''Being from Chicago, not being here every day and hearing about everything that's going on in my hometown, all the killings, especially with the youth -- I'm just trying to do my part.
''We're trying to do our best to talk to kids about the different roads they can take. This is one thing in Chicago that needs to be touched on. And this is a good time. Maybe they'll listen to my voice now that I won the gold medal.''