At the time, Wade had yet to invest in a financial advisor. His personal goal was to save half of the $2 million or so he was taking in his first year. He ended up spending all of it. When I was in college and I knew I was gonna enter the draft, I had my eyes on this blue Escalade, Wade remembers. I saw someone driving it down the street of Milwaukee. I get some money, Im gonna get me one of those. I put spinners on it. And so Wade bought it. Got the spinners. And he drove up to traffic lights, rolling down his windows and turning up Three Six Mafias Ridin Spinners"Im ridin spinners, Im ridin spinners / they dont stop. That was living the dream.
Dwyane Wade Shares the Financial Advice He Learned While in the NBA
In 2003, Dwyane Wade was selected fifth overall in the NBA Draft by the Miami Heat. Overnight, Wade went from unpaid NCAA athlete to a professional ball player, signing a multi-million-dollar contract.
Dwyane Wade Shares His NBA Financial Advice
While he never regretted these early spendthrift purchases, Wade knew he could be planning smarter. I was just sending my credit card to people like: hey can I get that Bentley? . . . That is not smart, people. Have someone smarter than you who can help you with your money.
Wade also learned some other lessons.
On gambling:
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Im not a big gambler. I dont go to casinos. But when you play sports, its like a right of passage that you have to play cards on the plane. Its a team thing. Its how we connect, how we bond. And Ive lost a lot of money on the plane just trying to play with my teammates. Theres been times when I wanted out because I was losing so much money. My financial advisor called me and said, Hey, this is something we need to talk about. Do you have a problem? Im glad thats over with.
On gift-giving:
As a parent, when it comes to birthdays and Christmaswhen it comes to holidaysyou buy your kids all these presents. They dont play with none of it. My daughterI buy her all these presents, but she wants to play with the box or a bag from the grocery store. Why do we go all out if our kids just want to play with the simplest thing? Like, shoe strings and a shoe. So yes, Ive spent a lot of money on a lot of gifts that my kids never used. But other families have. Because weve passed them on.
On his best purchases
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To buy my mom her first home and buy my dad his first home that was paid for. As a kid, you have these dreamsespecially growing up in the inner cityto make it out. And also for my kids, the best money I spent on them was being able to give them the education I didnt have. Putting them in some of the best schools. To the point where my kids at a certain ageabout 10feel like theyre smarter than me.
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