Never underestimate the power of a good hobby!
Following his retirement from the NBA, Dwyane Wade, like many greats who have since left the league, picked up a new golfing habit, which ultimately led him to become a minority owner in the NBA team Utah Jazz.
According to Boardroom, the move made in 2021 by Wade continues to get better with time. When he initially joined the ownership group, the former Miami Heat star saw the team at a valuation of $1.75 billion. Today that number has increased to $3.46 billion, per an April 16 Instagram post by Boardroom.
“If people are doubting how far you can go, go so far that you can’t hear them anymore,” said Wade on social media at the time of the deal. “Second act activated.”
The Sporting News reports that the deal was made possible thanks to a friendship between the majority owner, Ryan Smith, and Wade that began on the golf course.
Smith, a billionaire whose fortune was established after becoming the co-founder of experience management company Qualtrics, and Wade met on the golf course shortly after the Chicago, IL, native’s announcement that he was retiring from the NBA in 2019.
Two years later, Wade added team ownership to his portfolio.
“Partnering with Ryan and the Utah Jazz is the perfect fit as we share the same vision and values,” Wade shared in an official statement of the news at the time, per The Sporting News. “Not only is this group focused on building a championship franchise, but they are also committed to using their platform to do good and actively create a more inclusive, equitable world. We share a lot of the same goals and are trying to go to the same places in life.”
What’s more, Heat owner Mickey Arison also admitted that he and Wade were having conversations at the time about the former player taking a similar stance with the team he won three NBA Championship titles with, but the two parties weren’t able to stick the landing.
“We had discussed having him join our ownership group after his retirement, but he was not prepared to commit at the time,” Arison shared with the outlet. “Of course, I am disappointed that he didn’t reconsider.”
In the end, it looks like Wade made the right decision, and sports team ownership runs in the family with his 5-year-old daughter, Kaavia James Union Wade, as part-owner of Angel City Football Club.
