Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Wade on leave: ‘I got to get back to work’
MIAMI – For Dwyane Wade, it has become a matter of balancing two families. Tuesday, he was back with his basketball family.
After missing seven games following the birth of his daughter in California, Wade rejoined his Miami Heat teammates for Tuesday morning’s shootaround and then Tuesday night’s game against the Brooklyn Nets at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The Heat went 2-5 in Wade absence.
“I was so excited for my daughter to come, but I was like, ‘Baby, you know your dad was playing in a rhythm. You could’ve waited a little while,’ “the franchise’s all-time leading scorer quipped about his daughter’s earlier-than-expected birth via surrogate. “But it’s just getting back to it. It’s pretty much getting your legs back under you. I was getting my legs under me for a few games.”
The emotional whirlwind had Wade leaving his daughter and wife, actress Gabrielle Union, behind.
“They’re great, both in heaven. So I’m going to obviously miss ’em,” he said. “It was tough leaving my little girl and my wife [Monday]. But I got to get back to work, and I’ll see them again soon.”
The Heat will be in Los Angeles for games against the Clippers and Lakers from Dec. 8-11.
He flew his sons to Los Angeles to meet their newest sibling.
“The boys are doing good,” he said, noting the bonding moments with his youngest son “I was worried about Zion more than Zaire and my nephew. With Zion, once you see a little baby girl, once you hold ‘em, it’s like you can’t do nothing but love ‘em. It’s so little, so precious. So they’re loving it.”
The 36-year-old veteran said he put in work when he could while monitoring the team from afar.
“I was able to do some training both on and off the court,” he said. “Obviously, it’s not basketball like this. But you know me, I can’t just sit for two weeks. So after taking a couple of days off straight making sure my daughter’s fine, I got back to work on that Monday following when my daughter was born and I worked for six days straight just to make sure that my body is remembering what it’s supposed to do.
“And now it’s about trying to get back into game shape, going up and down.”
Coach Erik Spoelstra said Wade’s return was particularly meaningful in the locker room.
“There’s a human element to this business and to the game, and it is the most important thing, is the connection, your spirit, your emotions,” he said. “Everybody getting on the same page and just seeing Dwyane back here with the guys, there was a tangible boost in energy.”
The next challenge is getting Wade back up to speed, having found his legs just prior to his hiatus, having only decided on the eve of camp to return for his 16th NBA season.
“I don’t expect him to be in the exact form when he left,” Spoelstra said. “I think was just starting to get his legs under him that last week and get into a much better rhythm and I think you could see it from his play. So at least it wasn’t six weeks.”
As for Wade’s newborn, in a post featured on Wade’s Snapchat, a clarification was offered regarding his daughter’s name, Kaavia James Union Wade.
As his wife explained on that post, “We wanted to include my family in her name so the ‘James’ is from my uncle James Francis Glass who is also my godfather. Union is her middle name.”
So, no, there was not a LeBron James factor in play (but Heat teammate Udonis Haslem is the baby’s godfather).
Union added in the post, “pronounced Kah-VeeUh James. She has 102 nicknames, including but not limited to Kaav, Kaavi, Kaavi Baby, Kaavi J, Jamie, KJ, Nugget, Nug, Pooters.”
Wade and Union will appear with Oprah Winfrey to discuss their newborn on Dec. 8 at 8 p.m. on the OWN network.