Retired NBA star Dwyane Wade bought an undisclosed portion of the Utah Jazz with plans to become active in the team’s operation and in the community, ESPN reported yesterday.
The three-time NBA champion is the most recent former player to buy a stake in a team, following the lead of Shaquille O’Neal (Sacramento Kings) and Grant Hill (Atlanta Hawks). Michael Jordan is the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets.
“This goes far beyond the dream that I only had to play basketball in the NBA,” Wade, 39, told ESPN. “I’ve seen Shaq do it in Sacramento. I’ve seen Grant Hill do it in Atlanta. I’ve seen Jordan do it in Charlotte. ”
Utah technology entrepreneur Ryan Smith completed the buyout of the team and other assets from the Miller family last fall at a reported price of $ 1.66 billion. The Millers retained a percentage of the club and are among a small circle of minority owners.
Smith and Wade became acquainted with a golf course over the past few years and quickly built mutual respect.
“Dwyane has had the opportunity to be involved in so many different (ownership) groups if he wanted to,” Smith told ESPN. “Basically, we’ve been discussing from the time we closed the team on how we can do this. As I run my technology business, you want the brightest people around. “
He continued: “It wasn’t like we wanted more partners; that’s not what we were trying to do. I want to work with Dwyane on and off the court, on the business side, and so do our partners – because of who he is as a human being and what he has achieved. Those are the kinds of people you want around them. “
Wade won three NBA championships with the Miami Heat and was a 13-time All-Star in his 16 NBA seasons. He said he appreciates the opportunity to make a difference and concurs with Smith’s views on social and racial justice.
Smith has started a college scholarship program for undernourished students, invested in a program to provide safe housing for LGBTQ youth and their families and is a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“We’re not running away from the racial and social and LGBTQ conversations,” Wade told ESPN. “I’m committed to getting the job done. 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 Utah Jazz affair. I view this as a multilateral relationship – business, basketball, that I can bring Ryan to my world just as he brings me into his world. “
—Field Media Media