Dwyane Wade – författare

Dwyane Wade, the eight-time All-Star for the Miami Heat, has miraculously defied the odds throughout his career and his life. In 2006, in just his third season in the NBA, Dwyane was named the Finals'' MVP, after leading the Miami Heat to the Championship title, basketball''s ultimate prize. Two years later, after possible career-ending injuries, he again rose from the ashes of doubt to help win a gold medal for the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. As co-captain, he helped lead the Heat to triumph in the 2012 NBA Championship. Little wonder that legendary coach Pat Riley has called Dwyane ""B.I.W.""—Best In the World.

As incredible as those achievements have been, it''s off the court where Dwyane has sought his most cherished goal: being a good dad to his sons, Zaire and Zion, by playing a meaningful role in their lives. Recounting his fatherhood journey, Dwyane begins his story in March 2011 with the news that after a long, bitter custody battle, he has been awarded sole custody of his sons in a virtually unprecedented court decision. A Father First chronicles the lessons Dwyane has learned as a single dad from the moment of the judge''s ruling that instantly changed his life and the lives of his boys, and then back to the events in the past that shaped his dreams, prayers, and promises.

As the son of divorced parents determined to get along so that he and his sister Tragil could have loving relationships with both of them, Dwyane''s early years were spent on Chicago''s South Side. With poverty, violence, and drugs consuming the streets and their mom descending into addiction, Tragil made the heroic decision to take her younger brother to live with their father. After moving his household to suburban Robbins, Illinois, Dwyane Wade Sr. became Dwyane''s first basketball coach. While this period laid the groundwork for Dwyane''s later mission for fathers to take greater responsibility for their kids, he was also inspired by his mother''s miraculous victory over addiction and her gift for healing others. Both his mother and his father showed him that the unconditional love between parents and children is a powerful guiding force.

In A Father First, we meet the coaches, mentors, and teammates who played pivotal roles in Dwyane''s stunning basketball career—from his early days shooting hoops on the neighborhood courts in Chicago, to his rising stardom at Marquette University in Milwaukee, to his emergence as an unheralded draft pick by the Miami Heat. This book is a revealing, personal story of one of America''s top athletes, but it is also a call to action—from a man who had to fight to be in his children''s lives—that will show mothers and fathers how to step up and be parents themselves.

A long-awaited photographic memoir from basketball superstar Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat, beautifully designed with more than 200 all-new photos from Wade’s life on and off the court.

For more than 15 years, Dwyane Wade has dazzled basketball fans with his on-court artistry and has built his personal brand into one of the most powerful ones in sports. In this beautiful 4-color memoir, featuring more than 200 never-before-seen photos from Bob Metelus, who has been documenting Wade’s career for more than a decade, Wade takes readers inside his fascinating life and career.

Dwyane moves from Wade’s challenging upbringing on the South Side of Chicago through his college career at Marquette, where he went from unheralded recruit to one of college basketball’s greatest stars, to his extraordinary years with the Miami Heat, with whom he won three NBA championships and was named an All-Star 13 times. The book is centered on the essential principles that have guided Wade throughout his career: being an exceptional teammate and leader. As Wade details, while talent can make you a star, becoming a champion entails sacrifice: putting the broader team goals before your own ego. Wade has lived this credo, from his days playing alongside Shaq (with whom he won his first championship), to the “Big 3” with Lebron and Bosh, up through the 2018-19 season, when he mentored the Heat’s promising yet young roster in his final year as a player. Off the court, too, these same values have shaped his private life, helping him be a supportive husband and partner to Gabrielle Union and an exemplary role model for his children.

Dwyane is a deep dive into the mind and heart of one of the most compelling basketball players of all time. Coinciding with a documentary about Wade’s final NBA season, it is the definitive inside look at the life and career of one of the sport’s biggest stars.