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But Wade expanded on that three-word endorsement of Powell this week on the latest episode of his show, “Time Out with Dwyane Wade.” “He’s a great piece, man,” Wade said on his show. “Y’all know how good Norman is. He was an All-Star this year out there in the West. So for the Heat to be able to get a player like that with Bam [Adebayo], with Tyler [Herro] as the No. 1 and No. 2 options, all right. Let’s go.”
It’s also somewhat of a full-circle moment for Wade, who ran into Powell in France during a sports marketing event in mid-June. “We got a chance to just rap on the street real quick, just a little vibe,” Wade said on “The Time Out with Dwyane Wade.” “Then I think I was golfing and I come back and I got a text on my phone and he’s just like, ‘Yo, big bro, I’m on my way. I’m going down to Miami. I can’t wait to put a jersey on.’ And I’m like, ‘Who is this?’” It was Powell reaching out to alert Wade about the news.
The Los Angeles Clippers traded Powell to the Heat just two and a half weeks after their chance encounter. “I know how much of an inspiration that he took from the player that I was,” Wade said. “Being a guy who’s in that 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4 compact, quick, explosive. He’s taken pieces of different people’s game, of course, and he’s given me some love for what he saw that I did that he has utilized in his own game. So it’s cool to have that connection. “It’s a dream for him to put that jersey on because he grew up watching one of his favorite players play in that jersey. So it’s going to be an emotional night for him, I’m sure, when he actually gets out there and actually puts that jersey on. It’s cool.”
Dwyane Wade: Y’all know how good Norman is. He was an All-Star this year out there in the West. And so, for the Heat to be able to get a player like that with Bam with Tyler, as the one-two options, like, all right, great! All right, let's go. Dorell Wright: He's a Heat culture guy. He spoke on that when he got traded and talked about him going to Miami that he's Heat culture. He checks all the boxes. He checks all the boxes for a Heat guy.
Dwyane Wade: Getting a young guy like Ace Bailey, the talent that he has, you cannot pass him up, y'all. Like, there's no way. Even though the rumor mill was saying that he wanted to go to certain teams, there's no way you can pass him up, right? He's too talented. He's one of those he's one of those guys that just walk in the gym and he can get you 30. He just he's just one of those Melo-type of score-type of players, right? And so you had to get him. And so I thought Denny and you know and the staff did an amazing job of grabbing a young fella. And then we all know what we heard from a media standpoint, but ultimately, the young man and his family made their way down to Utah and he seemed excited to be there. He got right to the court.
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Dwyane Wade gives advice to Kel'el Ware: If you want to listen to anybody, you listen to Spo
Anthony Chiang: Dwyane Wade spoke about Kel'el Ware on the latest episode of his show, "Time Out with Dwyane Wade": "If you want to listen to anybody, you listen to Spo. If young fella wants to be great, buy in. Buy into what they’re selling."
Powell would say that when he heard he had been dealt, there were mixed feelings since it was relayed in his exit meeting that they valued him as a member of the team, even with some interested in acquiring him. The talks of an extension with the Clippers were on the table, but he would get the call he was moving, and when figuring out it was to Miami, there was excitement, citing it as a “childhood dream.” “When I got the call and said I was traded, obviously it’s a shock, because you’re not expecting it,” Powell said. “You just had a career year, and you know, you’d like to believe that you’re going to think you’re going to have some extension talks and things when you’re back, but hearing that it was Miami, I was really excited, like you said, I’ve had a couple guys that I’ve played with play for the team, the organization. They’ve said amazing things about the city, the fans, the organization, and then just thinking back to like my childhood and being a big fan of Dwyane Wade and watching the heat growing up and wanting to play for the Heat organization as one of the teams, is a childhood dream that you want to play for. It’s definitely a cool full-circle moment for me. But, yeah, it was a shock to see that I was traded in here, that I was traded, but I’m excited about the opportunity."
One person who showed their excitement for the move was Wade on social media, which was no doubt a special moment for Powell, who got the chance to speak with him when in Europe for the “Sport Beach” event in Cannes, France. “Taking moves and different things from [Dwyane Wade] and implementing it into my game and talking to him and seeing how he watches my game and knows my game and is proud of me and what I’ve been able to accomplish and that he was a motivating factor in my basketball career,” Powell said. “Literally two weeks later, to be traded to the Heat, and seeing him comment under the post, and was excited about it.”
Tim Reynolds: Norman Powell was a Dwyane Wade fan growing up -- so playing for the Heat is something he's thought about, he said. And he already says he fits with the culture.
Dwyane Wade on 2010 Finals: 'Everybody thought Pau Gasol should have been the MVP. That’s how well Pau was playing, and Kobe was playing awful'
On the latest episode of his podcast, Wade was explaining what Shai Gilgeous-Alexander needs to learn from Kobe Bryant when he recalled his last run in the NBA Finals. While he was trying to teach Gilgeous-Alexander a lesson, he inadvertently discredited the Lakers legend. “A lot of people don’t know that, in that Finals, the last Finals that they won, Kobe didn’t play well. Kobe didn’t shoot the ball well; actually, everybody thought Pau Gasol should have been the MVP. That’s how well Pau was playing, and Kobe was playing awful."
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"But you never could tell when you turned the TV on that he was struggling. Because his leadership is always there, his intensity is always- that fire is always there. So, because he’s 8 for 24 from the field or something like that, you could never tell with a player like Kobe.”
With everything, Wade has a personal mission: Help people enter spaces they might not normally have access to. “Not everyone is going to be invited into that room, so you can hold the door open to see if others can come in,” Wade told The Athletic. “If not, make sure that you’re doing your job, giving back to the people that you hope will walk through those doors.”
Wade didn’t plan on parenting publicly, but celebrity status and social media have made it difficult — though he has been careful with Zaya. In being her biggest supporter, Wade has tried to be an example for other parents in how to handle attacks on transgender rights and vitriol aimed at their families. Wade’s basketball career is revered in Miami (the nickname “Wade County” is a play on Dade County), but his family moved to California after his playing career in part because he didn’t believe his family would be “accepted” amid Florida’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies. Wade doesn’t allow hate to change his parenting approach. “I’m such a proud father, and I try to post my kids,” Wade said. “So, as my child got older and got confident and comfortable with us talking more about her and talking more about her situation, that’s when we did.”
Through his Dwyane Wade Family Foundation, Wade aims to provide resources to marginalized communities. The foundation also assisted in starting Translatable, a digital platform and online community — operated by both Wade and Zaya — that states it’s “a safe space for LGBTQIA+ youth to express themselves and is a resource hub for our parents, families and support systems.” “We want to put our narrative out there, as well,” Wade said. “We know that other families, other kids, other people will be dealing with this and will go through these things. This is happening in real time.”
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