Dwayne Wade is a lot of things, but a quitter is not one of them. After a season-shortening hip and knee injury, the Miami Heat were giving up and racking up a pretty dismal season. But with Shaq gone, Flash recouperated, won Olympic gold and sits down with The Urban Daily to talk about Wade’s World, why Obama would get schooled on the court and explains why some things can’t be explained.
The Urban Daily: First things first, man… Congratulations on that Gold medal…
Dwayne Wade: Oh, thank you, man… It’s truly unbelievable. I appreciate it!
TUD: So, tell me a little bit about this Xbox thing you got going on?
DW: Yeah, man… I’m actually on Xbox playing NBA Live 2009 at their offices. When I get off the phone with you, I’m going to get on Xbox Live and play against kids around the world. You know how it is nowadays with the Rock Band and Guitar Hero games? I’m about to get my butt kicked on this Internet, but it’s gonna be fun. We’re going to enjoy it so, like I said, it’ll be great to be here doing this today.
TUD: Bow Wow just lost to The Game in Madden ’09 and it was quite embarassing. He lost 55-23. Is there anyone who you’d like to face on Live?
DW: I don’t know, man… There’s so many friends of mine in the NBA who don’t even play Live. Most of the guys that I know love to play Madden or other sport games. But if I had to challenge somebody then…
TUD: Tony Parker said he’s nice, hands down…
DW: [Laughs] Nah… I don’t think so. I’d whoop on Tony [laughs]. Maybe one of my Olympic teammates… Probably ‘Bron or whatever… I’d probably face LeBron and go from there.
TUD: You looked healthy during the Olympics, D. How are you feeling?
DW: I feel great! I’m really feeling active again after coming off those two surgeries. I really feel good for the first time since 2006 and, more than that, I enjoyed my role on the team. I enjoyed coming off the bench to help bring in energy to the team and to give them a different look. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. It truly was a great experience.
TUD: Your teams rating on Live isn’t that great, right now, man… What is your hope for the season?
DW: The games have to be played, so I’m not really worried about all that. A lot of people won’t give us a chance, but as long as you got myself, Shawn Marion and Michael Beasley, everything should be all right. If we come out early and get everyone to believe, then we’d want everyone to know how we do it in Miami. We’re going to play really well at home. We just got to find a way to win on the road. We had a bad year last season, but I’ll tell you one thing, man… fifteen of those games we lost in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter. So, I feel with me being healthy, we can win some of those games we had and have a totally different year
TUD: Now, NBA Live 2009 has a feature on it called “Dynamic NBA,” so you do get a chance to affect the video gaming world in real-time. What are your goals for the season – NBA Leading Scorer, MVP, First Team All-Defense?
DW: I don’t really think about that. My own personal goal is just to dominate every aspect of my game, in every statistical area. I want to play the game at the level that I played when I was a champion… and I want to win. I’m a winner. I want to compete every night and take it from there.
TUD: Miami is all winning on the music side of things. Plies, Rick Ross, DJ Khaledand others are doing their thing. Do you believe that after that Rick Ross incident that rappers should have a background check before rappin’ on the mic?
DW: [Laughs] …you said a background check, huh? [Laughs] That’s funny! You know what, man, I don’t know… There’s so many things going on in the world and so much gets overblown and others just get overlooked. That is what it is. You move on from it. I think we should focus on more important things; things that are affecting the world.
TUD: How does Wade’s World affect the kids it helps?
DW: Well, we only concentrate our efforts in Miami and Chicago. Both of those are cities and places that I call home. The whole thing this year, for my foundation, is centered around the gun violence issue because in Chicago, the killing that’s gone on is insane. Kids need to stop all the violence. I teamed up with a Chicago-based organization out there called Ceasefire. As a group, they get to the neighborhood, they get to the community and they put a halt to the violence. The other day we kicked it off with a dinner that will benefit this cause. Tonight, Chris Paul and I will host a bowling event in a couple of hours here that will raise money for it. We’re just doing different things. We’re having a skating party tomorrow. It’s been great. My foundation is one thing that I take pride in.
TUD: Will Obama’s inauguration be the world’s biggest grouping of people doing the Electric Slide?
DW: [Laughs] I never really thought about that! I think it has the potential to be. I think it can be… especially as it gets much closer to November. In my words, you’ll start to see what’s real and what’s fake. We will definitely see…
TUD: Bill O’Reilly thinks that it’l be nothing but low-riders and barbecues in front of the White House…
DW: Wooooowww…. One thing about Obama is that he has his own style… and that’s what we love. He’s not the typical presidential candidate. Anyone else who’s been in office before him knows that. He’s not afraid to showcase his style. He loves to play basketball. He hoops and that’s how he stays in shape. He doesn’t run on a treadmill. You can go on and on about the arguments of policy and experience, but at the end of the day, hopefully he becomes our president. We’ll all be better for it.
TUD: So, one on one with your former Chicago senator, who would win between you and him?
DW: Oh! One on one? I would wax him on the court! [Laughs] As long as there’s no bodyguard or Secret Service getting in there, I’d be good money! Barack can play a little bit. I’ve seen him play. If I had to say, get anybody on the court right now, that’s who I’d get on the court. I’d get Obama on the court and school him a lil’ bit right now!
TUD: If you had to put together your own online NBA team to trounce kids on the Internet – who would be your starting five for NBA Live?
DW: Oh, that’s easy… I just came from playing with the Olympic team, so I’d say Chris Paul at the point guard position, myself at the two, Kobe Bryant at the three, LeBron at the four and I’ll take Dwight Howard at the five.
TUD: We’ve seen how that lineup works… [laughs] What are some things that you can’t believe are happening right now in 2008?
DW: Obama – that’s crazy, right now. I can’t believe it. 45 years after Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream that we could pretty much be friends amongst the races. Personally, I can’t believe that I just won the Gold medal! It’s very exciting. I just came from theOprah Winfrey show. That’s a terrific moment. I just can’t believe where basketball has taken me in life. I’ve went to China, seen the Great Wall and just enjoyed every last minute. When you look back and sit at your life, it’s really interesting to know that the sport I played as a kid has given me so much in my life.
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