Dwyane Wade could not believe that he was being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The 41-year-old retired NBA basketball player is reflecting on the moment he found out about the achievement.
Speaking with Craig Melvin on Today, he shared that the moment felt unreal. “It became real when I got the call, you know?” the former Miami Heat player shared. “And all the memories come back. Like, everything that you’ve been through. The moments you wanted to quit … everything rushed back."
Dwyane joked that he asked if they were sure they had the right number when he got the call about being an inductee. “I thought I put a career together that will put me in a place where I could be first-ballot,” he said. “But it’s still different when you get that call.”
He was inducted into the hall of fame in a ceremony in Springfield, Massachusetts, that took place on August 12, 2023. Alongside him were other NBA members, including Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, and Pau Gasol.
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During the ceremony, he delivered a moving speech to his father, Dwyane Wade Sr., that left the crowd in tears. “When I would cry and say I can’t, you would make me go harder,” he said. “You pushed me to limits that I didn’t know were inside of me. The hard work I put in was because I didn’t want to let you down.”
“We had the same exact dream, and we carried the same exact name,” Dwyane went on. “To know we hustled, all the way to the Basketball Hall of Fame, is God’s will.” At the end of his speech, he invited his father on stage to stand alongside him in accepting the achievement.
Fans were touched by the NBA star's emotional tribute.
"I don’t care how busy your day is today," one person said on Twitter, resharing a clip of the speech. "Take a couple of minutes and watch this. Wow."
"The new age thing is 'not to push your kids too hard,'" another person tweeted. "I’ve thought/said it for sure. This video tells me that with the right motives/priorities, it’s EXACTLY what I should be doing with my kids. I know I’m thankful for the people in my life that pushed me. This is powerful."
Dwyane shared a clip of the speech on his own Instagram profile, captioning it, "Legacy. We in the Hall of Fame dawg ⚡️." Fans commented under the post.
"That was one of the best hof speeches of all time," one person wrote.
"Such a beautiful moment," another person commented. "Cried real tears. Incredible speech, congratulations to you, @gabunion and Family, D! Hall of Famely ♥️."
The former NBA player played for the Miami Heat from 2003 to 2016, and then again from 2018 to 2019. He won three NBA championships, was a 13-time NBA All-Star, and was also named one of the 75 greatest players in NBA history in 2021.
“It’s a lot of great players that [have] come through Miami,” he shared. “It will be a lot of great players. And one day, it would be someone else that would challenge it, and they will say they’re the greatest. But not today. Today, it’s me.”
