Wade is a chair on the newly-formed JPMorganChase Athlete Council alongside Tom Brady, Megan Rapinoe, Jalen Brunson, A'ja Wilson and more sports stars
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NEED TO KNOW
- Dwyane Wade has no problem admitting that he made financial “mistakes” early in his NBA career — and wants young athletes to avoid doing the same
- The retired NBA star serves as a chair on the JPMorganChase Athlete Council, a new initiative to help athletes navigate their financial lives
- Wade tells PEOPLE, “It took me going through a lot of things — lawsuits, divorces, all the things I was going through — and then I opened up to trust someone because I was going to lose everything, I felt like”
Dwyane Wade is reflecting on his past to guide young athletes and their futures.
The retired basketball icon, 44, opened up to PEOPLE about the financial "mistakes" he made early in his career as a 21-year-old NBA star as an example for fellow athletes who are navigating similar journeys of their own.
As part of the newly-formed JPMorganChase's Athlete Council, Wade joins a stacked roster of sports stars dedicated to helping athletes manage the sudden windfall they come into with NIL deals and their first professional contracts.
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The three-time NBA champion and two-time Hall of Famer, who is a chair on the Athlete Council, was selected fifth overall by the Miami Heat in the 2003 NBA Draft at age 21. He had just completed his junior year at Marquette University before turning professional.
Wade, who has been open about his tough childhood growing up in the South Side of Chicago, tells PEOPLE exclusively that he found it extremely challenging to "trust" people in that rookie year after signing his first big contract.
"I made my first million when I was 21 years old," he tells PEOPLE during an exclusive interview at the JPMorganChase Headquarters in New York City. "I didn't trust no one in the beginning. It took me about six to seven years before I even was open to it."
"And it took me going through a lot of things — lawsuits, divorces, all the things I was going through — and then I opened up to trust someone because I was going to lose everything, I felt like," the longtime Heat star shares.
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In 2002, Wade wed his high school girlfriend Siohvaughn Funches-Wade, and together welcomed two children: son Zaire and daughter Zaya. They divorced in 2007 after five years of marriage and Wade eventually received full custody of their kids.
"It was very hard for me in the beginning to trust," says Wade, which is why he believes that the JPMorganChase Athlete Council is "very important" for the next generation of athletes, who will now have a group of sports figures across various leagues who've been through it already. In addition to Wade, who serves as a chair on the JPMorganChase Athlete Council, members include Tom Brady, Megan Rapinoe, Jalen Brunson, Sue Bird, A'ja Wilson, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Alex Morgan and Ally Love.
"Now you can trust the things they tell you to do when it comes to really shifting your mindset very early — and I think we have to get to the kids earlier now," he tells PEOPLE.
Looking back, Wade — who is now married to actress Gabrielle Union and the father of five kids, Dahveon, 21, Zaire, 23, Zaya, 18, Xavier, 11, and Kaavia, 6, — considers himself "blessed" today, and admits, "I made a lot of mistakes." However, he has an optimistic perspective on adversity.
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"As an athlete, that's how we learn," he says. "We make a mistake, and we know not to do that again… You can be imperfect. You don't have to get everything right… but in the midst of making those mistakes, make sure you learn from them immediately."
The former NBA star played for three different teams over his 16-season career, spending the majority of his time with the Heat. He won three NBA championships with the franchise and became the team's all-time leader in points, assists and steals.
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In July 2016, Wade left Miami for brief stints with the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers before being traded back to the Heat in February 2018. He retired his No. 3 jersey with the Heat the next year.
"If I can go back and start over, yes, I learned a lot, but I think I would wait before I got into trying to grow my wealth. I tried to grow it right away because that's what we're told," he says, adding, "So I would wait until I really had a better understanding, and focus on a protection plan of my wealth."
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In hindsight, Wade shares "biggest thing" he'd tell his rookie self 23 years ago.
"All these lawsuits and divorces, all these things came very early in me getting wealth. When I got money at 21 years old, all this happened by 25 years old," he says. "So within four years of me getting money, I'm in the court for lawsuits. I'm in court for divorce, child support, all these different things."
"The first thing I would say is slow down," he shares. "I think really taking a look of seeing what do you want, obviously, for your life — and if you don't know that picture right now, then don't rush into it. Take it as it comes and move slowly through it. I moved really fast in my life."
"I had a kid very early. I started making grown-up decisions very early when I didn't have the bandwidth to even understand the decisions I was making and how that would affect me later," Wade continues, highlighting the importance of the Athlete Council today.
"It's important that you have individuals like us on this council that can show you what later looks like," he says. "It's really just taking a beat and being patient with growing up."
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