Sneaker News 
Dwyane Wade is one of the most recognizable veteran players in the league at this point. This will be his 14th season and he’s collected three championship rings and countless awards over the last decade and a half.
The story this off-season was that Wade left the only franchise he’s ever played for in the Miami Heat for his hometown team, the Chicago Bulls. In leaving for the Bulls, he said it was bigger than basketball. He was going to Chicago to play for the iconic franchise, but he also knew his influence and visibility could work wonders for a city who has struggled with a lot of tough issues, especially as of late.
We recently caught up with the 12-time NBA All-Star to talk about his latest sneaker, the Li-Ning WoW 5, his return to Chicago to serve the community, his expectations for the Bulls this season and how he’s handling big changes in his career. Read below to see what Wade had to say.
Words by Jordan Hagedorn
Above: Dwyane Wade with members of the Wade’s World Foundation during special event in October
Sneaker News: This past off-season you made a meaningful move from Miami to Chicago to play for the Bulls. Can you talk about that decision?
Dwyane Wade: Yeah, I learned a lot of great things in Miami and grew a lot in Miami. I learned how to be a champion in Miami and learned how to be a leader, so those are things I bring to the Bulls organization and the team that can help us. I just felt like my time in Miami was up.
I’m excited to be in Chicago. One because it’s my 14th season, so I’m still around (laughs) and two, Chicago is home. My decision to play in Chicago was also bigger than basketball.
SN: How do you plan to connect with the community and what are you looking forward to most?
DW: The Bulls do a lot of great things in the community to make us visible. We’ll be doing some different things with my foundation. We’ll do some things for Thanksgiving and Christmas and we’re working behind the scenes right now to put together some initiatives to inspire the kids. We’re in constant communication with the city of Chicago, the Mayor’s office and the police chief to see how we can help each other. We all want our community to be better and I’m looking forward to being a part of that.
Above: Dwyane Wade in a pre-season game as member of the Bulls
SN: When you hear your name called during the iconic Bulls starting line up how are you gonna feel about that?
DW: I’m going to try to focus on the game but it’s going to feel great. I know the fans of Chicago, my family and everybody is waiting for the moment when it happens. It will be a moment of pride and a quick reflecting moment for me as a kid. I always did the starting lineup for the Bulls in my own voice. I remember hearing Jordan, Pippen and all the other guy’s names called so for my name to join those ranks it’s going to be pretty cool.
SN: What are your expectations for the Bulls this season?
DW: I’ve learned a lot about our team just seeing how competitive we are together. I know that we’re going to fight and be competitive and that’s all we can ask for at the beginning of the year until we continue to get our continuity down on both ends of the floor. The realistic expectations of a team who is just getting together with 8 to 10 new guys is that hopefully by December and January you start clicking. You play together and you see how things are when you’re winning or losing but hopefully at the beginning of the new year you just try to win games by being competitive and going out there and playing your ass off early in the season to win important games. I’m looking forward to it. It’s an unknown. I don’t know what this team is going to be like. I do know that if things go well, we can be very successful.
Above: The Li-Ning Way Of Wade 5 “Coming Home”, releasing on October 29th ($165)
SN: You switched teams from the Heat to the Bulls and switched sneaker brands from Jordan to Li-Ning a while back. How have you’ve handled those transitions?
DW: Yeah, I’ve made some big changes in my career. With changes there are some positives and also things that are very different. Some things take some getting used to. I make sure I educate myself before I make a change. I take the good and the bad and carry that knowledge and information over to the new situations. It takes you out of your comfort zone but I’m not afraid of doing that. Change isn’t always bad and it’s not always great, but it’s been good for me because these are the things I’ve wanted to do. As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned to not be afraid to do things that I want to do and I’ve been fortunate to take things to another level.
SN: Describe the process of getting your signature shoe line with Li-Ning to this point, the fifth shoe.
DW: Signing with Li-Ning at the time was an unknown. It’s gone so fast, but for me to be on my fifth shoe is great. I feel like we have a good grip on the direction of the brand and have a good idea of what the fans want, what they need and what they expect to see from the Wade brand.
I’m excited about the growth of my brand. It’s cool to know that my brand in China is growing. My original dream was to have a Wade store and over the last two years we’ve opened seven Wade stores. The brand continues to grow and now we’re also in Chicago and Miami. We’re continuing to try to educate people on something different. I think the WoW 5 is one of my better shoes. The WoW 4 made more people look at the brand and I think people will like the WoW 5.
Above: Dwyane Wade challenges buddy LeBron James to a World Series bet
SN: Can you elaborate on the design of the WoW 5?
DW: Coming off the WoW 4, I sat down with our designer Eric. One of my first things we made sure of was to build off of the traction we got with the 4, so we didn’t want to veer too far away from the that shoe. We decided to bring back similar materials, especially in the beginning of the season. Also, we wanted to bring back some elements from other shoes that I’ve worn, so we brought back some things from the Wade 1.5, the Playoff version the year we won the Championship against San Antonio and we also had some design elements from the Wade 4. Then put some new touches to it that really gave it its own look.
We wanted to make sure people could look at the shoe and identify it as a Wade shoe by seeing it on tv or seeng it from afar. I’ve never had 5 shoes with any brand I’ve been with until now, so the design process for the 5 was an important one.
SN: The Cubs are in the World Series. The city is buzzing. Our fans asked if there will be a Cubs inspired colorway.
DW: Didn’t plan for that (laughs). But it’s cool to be in Chicago right now. This is a sports town and they love the Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Bears and Blackhawks. To be here at this time where the Cubs have gone this far is cool. The buzz and excitement is great in the city and it’s cool because our season starts as baseball ends. The city has a great energy. It’s been fun. I’ve been to a few games and I want to go to more. It’s fun to be a part of winning. The good thing about being from Chicago is we have a lot of teams to support.
Above: Li-Ning Way of Wade “White Volt” (Released October 8th, $160)
SN: What WoW5 colorways can we expect to see?
DW: I’m the kind of person that has to have a lot of colorways. The one thing I tried to do more for this shoe was to play with different materials. The WoW 5 will release with a bunch of different materials. We start off with the mesh and then we break off into a jacquard mesh and that mesh allowed me to play with more patterns and more colorways that I think will show the cool elements of the Wade 5. I’m looking forward to seeing what the reaction will be from my fans and other people who aren’t yet familiar with my shoes. We always make adjustments with my shoe, but I’m not sure it can get much better than this from a design and comfort standpoint and how the shoe was built. We built a good basketball shoe and the colors transition really well off the court as well. That’s always been the goal to have both a shoe that performs well on the court and looks great off the court.
