Three-time NBA champion Dwyane Wade has acquired a stake in the Utah Jazz, joining the team’s majority owner and governor, Ryan Smith, with plans to take an active role in the franchise and region.
Wade, an eight-time All-NBA player with the Miami Heat, is the latest Hall of Fame player with NBA-owned stakes, including Grant Hill (Atlanta Hawks), Shaquille O’Neal (Sacramento Kings) and owner Charlotte Hornets. majority Michael Jordan. Magic Johnson previously had a 4% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers.
“This is beyond the dream I had of just playing basketball in the NBA,” Wade told ESPN. “I saw Shaq doing it in Sacramento. I saw Grant Hill doing it in Atlanta. I saw Jordan doing it in Charlotte. If this partnership is going to be something like my relationship with Ryan, there will be a lot of things I want to be involved in …
“Unfortunately, people in my community do not have this opportunity and do not take it easy to have this opportunity. To make a real difference, you have to be here – on top – and Ryan knows that. I am grateful to him and I know that I bring a lot to this partnership besides my basketball knowledge and skills. “
Wade, 39, met Smith on a golf course in San Clemente, California, shortly after retiring in 2019 and they quickly became friends. Wade wanted to understand about Smith’s technological empire, including his company Qualtrics, and called him a mentor. Smith, 42, raised the idea of Wade joining the group of owners after completing a $ 1.66 billion acquisition of Jazz in October.
The NBA has a regulation according to which ownership stakes can be no less than 1% of the team, but Wade’s financial investment in the franchise is not immediately clear.
Wade joins a small group of homeowners that includes Smith and his wife, Ashley; Accel investor and partner Ryan Sweeney; Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes; and the Miller family, which previously owned the team.
“Dwyane had the chance to be part of so many [ownership] if he wanted to, “Smith told ESPN.” We’ve been talking practically since we closed the team on how we can do this. As I run my technology business, you want the brightest people around you.
“There’s a big picture here. It’s much more than basketball. This league is the biggest platform there is and we ran into it. It’s not a league we came to say, ‘Hey, that went somewhere we don’t feel comfortable with.’ In fact, that’s what we signed up for. We are the newest group of properties. We are the youngest. Dwyane fits perfectly.
“It wasn’t like we wanted more partners; that’s not what we tried to do. I want to work with Dwyane on and off the field, on business, as well as our partners – because it’s like a human being and what he has accomplished. These are the kinds of people you want around you. “
Wade did not say if he had significant conversations with the Heat property about a financial stake in the franchise, where he spent more than 14 seasons of his career. He described his strong and personal relationship with Smith and a shared vision for that business partnership as the driving force behind securing the Jazz stake.
“I have respect for that [Heat] the organization will not go anywhere, the love I have for [Heat] fans – that’s not going anywhere, “Wade told ESPN.” But this is about the next phase of my life as an investor, businessman, entrepreneur. For me, this is an opportunity to grow. “
Wade described a synergy to Smith’s progressive vision of turning Jazz’s success on the field – including a record 41-14 league leader – into a cultural leader in the community and state. Beyond Smith’s lifelong love of jazz and basketball, his devotion to social causes made the organization an easy sale for Wade. Smith has dedicated a four-year college scholarship to a poorly served student for every Jazz victory this season and has worked with Apple CEO Tim Cook to invest $ 4 million in the construction of eight Encircle homes that offer homes safe haven for LGBTQ youth and their families. . Smith embraced the Black Lives Matter movement, publicly supporting his players on these issues.
“We don’t run away from racial, social and LGBTQ conversations,” Wade told ESPN. “I am hired to do the job. I’m talking about the LGBTQ community, which everyone knows is important to me. My daughter is part of that community.
“I don’t just look at this as a jazz relationship in Utah. I look at this as a multifaceted relationship – business, basketball, I can bring Ryan into my world, just as he brings me into his world. . “
Wade has had a strong relationship with Jazz All-Star goalie Donovan Mitchell, who has been regularly compared to Wade since his arrival in the NBA.
“I call it 2.0,” Wade told ESPN. “If there’s a player like me, it’s Donovan Mitchell.”
Before the coronavirus pandemic, Mitchell had spent his time shadowing Wade in South Florida.
“He wanted to go with me in the car, go to the gym and shoot, and he even wanted to pick my brain,” Wade said. “It’s on the short list of people who call me and talk for hours. We have a big brother-younger brother relationship.”
This relationship will have an opportunity to grow, as will Wade’s role in jazz basketball. Saying “they have the right people in their place”, Wade sees the opportunity to choose their places to contribute from the team.
From free agent meetings to individual counselors, Wade said he is fully invested in the future of the franchise. Wade, his wife Gabrielle Union and family live in Los Angeles, a short flight from Utah. They spent Valentine’s Day skiing in Park City. “I’ve fallen to the bottom many times,” Wade said. “Ryan shows us every inch of Utah.”
Smith said: “Every city in every state looks to leaders in their community to help. Whether it’s Minnesota, New York or LA, what we do is something that can be leveraged to drive the culture of an entire [region]. That’s what Dwyane and our group are talking about. We are in a world where basketball unites this state when anything else in the world tries to divide us. If we can take that platform and do good, lead and write changes for the future, we can look back and say, “Wow, that’s what heritage is about.