Chicago Bulls’ Dwyane Wade on being an underdog: ‘I embraced that’

Chicago Bulls shooting guard Dwyane Wade discussed what it was like growing up as an underdog with actor Jamie Foxx in a video with Variety and Mercedes-Benz USA.

Chicago Bulls shooting guard Dwyane Wade discussed what it was like growing up as an underdog with actor Jamie Foxx in a video with Variety and Mercedes-Benz USA.

“I was always the underdog, and it was OK because I embraced that,” Wade said. That just pushed me and pushed me, and even getting drafted fifth pick in the NBA I was still an underdog.”

Wade went on to discuss how his father pushed him to be an all-around great player.

“I remember one game I had like—this was the most proud he’d even been of me—I had ten points, 11 rebounds, I had like nine assists, nine steals, I had like eight blocks and I saw pride in my dad. And at that moment I said, ‘I need to be a player who’s not just about points, a player that does everything, so I can get that look in my dad’s eyes.”

Wade also talked about seizing opportunities when they arrive, and how he used that mindset to help him through the 2006 NBA Finals with the Miami Heat.

After spending the first 13 seasons of his career with the Heat, Wade signed with the Chicago Bulls last month.