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NBA ALL-STAR 2019

February 16, 2019

Dwyane Wade

Charlotte, North Carolina

Q. So all-Star Weekend is a really nice opportunity to see other guys' games up close. I've been asking everyone if you could take pieces of other guys' names who are here at All-Star Weekend, like Kyrie's crossover, what would you take?
DWYANE WADE: I'd take LeBron's mind. I'd take Paul George, just his flair of the game. I'd take Kyrie's handles. I'd take Kawhi Leonard's hands. I'd take Westbrook's athleticism. I'm trying to think of all the players. I would take Embiid's personality. I would take something from each player. I would take Giannis, his height, his lift, his Euro steps. I'd take all those things.

Q. You'd take everything, but you're the legend. What do you think they might want to take from your game?
DWYANE WADE: I don't know. Maybe the ability to grow hair at 37. I don't know what it would be. I hope it would be something, hopefully my heart, my will, things like that.

Q. Some guys come into the league being an All-Star every year. Kemba has grinded his way. What do you see from him the last five, six years?
DWYANE WADE: Just a guy continuing to get better. The work that he puts in the offseason, you can see it every time the season starts. He's hungry for greatness. I think a player like Kemba, similar to myself, the unknown of what the future will be, and once you got a little taste of it, he's like, well, I could do all right. Then you got a little bit more and a little bit more and you continue to understand, and you're like, Wait, I could be great. He's proved that.

He's one of the toughest covers in the game. He's one of the best individual players from a standpoint of personality-wise in the game. So you're just happy for his success.

Q. Game 6 against the Hornets a couple years ago, that was a great game for you. Where does that rank?
DWYANE WADE: It ranks somewhere in the top 10 of moments for me. I think probably because of just our team was facing elimination on the road. This was two years after the Big Three broke up. So it was a big moment for me to show the young guys, the guys now, the Justise Winslows, the Josh Richardsons, those guys that were rookies at the time, so they could see a little bit of what they heard about Dwyane Wade. I got a chance to show them a little bit in that series and in that game.

It was a special game. Helped us win the series.

Q. How has the city of Miami impacted you on and off the court?
DWYANE WADE: The city of Miami? I'm not from Miami, obviously, but you couldn't tell people, kids in Miami that were born in my era that I'm not from Miami. I've become a part of the community. So it's home. It will forever be home. My kids grew up there. I love Miami. I love everything it's done for me and been for me. It's been great.

Q. What's your favorite basketball movie?
DWYANE WADE: My favorite basketball movie, I love Blue Chips. That was one of my favorite. What else am I forgetting? Above the Rim. I definitely love Above the Rim. My guy Tupac is in it. Yeah, He Got Game with Ray Allen is a classic. That's top of everybody's list.

Q. He helped you win a championship. You got to say that?
DWYANE WADE: Definitely. Ray Allen, Jesus Shuttleworth, He Got Game. And Shaq helped me win a championship. So Blue Chips and He Got Game would be the top two.

Q. Do you think it's important for African-Americans to support Colin Kaepernick?
DWYANE WADE: I think it's important for you to support the things you believe in. As an African-American, as a black athlete, I support other athletes and I support initiatives that guys believe in. It also has to be what you believe in as well. You never want to get behind something that you don't believe in.

But what I think Colin did is he educated a lot of us on something we didn't know about. I appreciate him for taking a stand and being a leader in our community, for sure.

Q. On his final season:
DWYANE WADE: It's been amazing. You never know how it's going to end for you. For me to be able to decide that this is my last season and for the fans, the ovations I get in every arena, for the love I get every time we pull up to a hotel, for the things that teams do in the arena for me, it's just been great. So I'm appreciative.

Q. How much do you think you're going to play on Sunday? How much do you want to play?
DWYANE WADE: I have no idea. I've got to talk to my captain about that. I've got to talk to LeBron about that one. Not much, you know what I mean? I'm not here to do that. I'm just here to enjoy it. Whatever is called for me to do, I want to get out there and enjoy it. If it's five minutes, cool. If it's 20 minutes, cool. I just want to get out there and have a little fun.

Q. What is your message for the kids out there on those courts dreaming about being in your spot one day?
DWYANE WADE: Same as I tell my son. He has the same dream, to one day be sitting up on this podium. Obviously, it's about the hard work you put in. I always tell kids to become gym rats. Put the work in. And believe in yourself. Along the way, you're going to have people who are going to be able to push you. You're going to have people who are going to be there to help you. Make sure you use those people and take all the knowledge you can from each individual in your life, both on the court and off the court, that helps you and pushes you for your dream.

Q. It's not easy to get where you are. What are some of those mental challenges that you went through, and how did you come out of them?
DWYANE WADE: Obviously, it's different for everybody mentally, from the way you grew up to just how you like to be. Everyone's personality is different. For me, mentally, I think I realized at a young age that nothing was going to be handed to me, nothing was going to be given to me. So if I wanted to become successful, if I wanted to live my dream of playing in the NBA, I had to do things different than other guys. The work I had to put in, the way I had to be, the way I had to act, it just had to be true and authentic to who I am.

So I try to stick to that. I try to stick to the person that my mom and my dad, my sister, my family raised me to be along the way and not lose myself in the process.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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