While he only spent one year with the Chicago Bulls, Dwyane Wade‘s Chicago roots run deep. Wade was born and grew up on the South Side of Chicago. He played basketball and football at Harold L. Richards High School, embracing the school his brother attended in an attempt to follow in his footsteps.
As he made his way through the ranks, he attended college at Marquette University, was drafted by the Miami Heat and eventually made his way back to Chicago for one season with the Bulls in 2016 — after he had cemented his legacy as an all-time great in Miami.
Now, Wade is set to be a part of the 2023 Basketball Hall of Fame class, and at his press conference, he spoke about getting his jersey retired by his high school and how Chicago shaped him as a person and a basketball player. (H/t Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times)
“To have my jersey retired at Richards (is) amazing, because it wasn’t a basketball school, but we made it a basketball school,” Wade said. “A lot of who I am and how I approach things is how I was raised and what I’ve seen. Chicago has a big part of that, and Richards High is a big part of that. They gave me the jersey; they gave me the opportunity. The coach coached me; he didn’t just let me show up. He stayed on me because he saw a side of me that I didn’t even know I had.”
Wade may not necessarily be a Bulls legend, but he is most certainly a legend in the city of Chicago.
