Chicago Native Dwyane Wade Set to Join Ownership Group of WNBA’s Sky

The basketball Hall of Famer is already a part-owner of two other professional teams.

Dwyane Wade is expected to join the Sky’s ownership group, ESPN’s Alexa Philippou reports. The transaction still needs to be approved by the WNBA board of governors.

In June, the Chicago franchise sold 10% of the team to a group of eight investors, including Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts, for $85 million. Wade’s percentage stake in the team is not yet known.

“We all talk about support, and support looks different for everyone,” Wade told Philippou. “And so instead of tweeting out and saying ‘go support the W,’ instead of showing up at the game and supporting, I wanted to take it to that next level, and this was the next level for me.”

Wade, who is also a minority owner in the NBA’s Jazz and MLS’s Real Salt Lake, is excited to try and help grow the WNBA.

“It’s a great opportunity to be a part of the league in its very early stages,” he said, via ESPN. “Growth is going to happen, and so I want to be a part of the growth of this league.”

So far this season, the Sky are 8–12 and are in fifth place of six teams in the Eastern Conference. Chicago has made the playoffs four straight seasons and eight times in the last 10 years, including a WNBA championship in 2021.

Wade grew up in Chicago and played for the Bulls for parts of two seasons after he left the Heat for the first time. He will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame later this year.