Big news from the NBA as future Hall of Famer, Dwyane Wade, purchased an ownership stake in the Utah Jazz.
The eight-time All-NBA player with the Heat joins the ranks of former players who are investing their fame and fortune into NBA team ownership. The list is a Hall of Fame one, complete with names like Michael Jordan (Hornets), Shaq (Kings), Grant Hill (Hawks) and Magic Johnson (previous ownership stake in the Lakers).
“This goes way beyond the dream I had to just play basketball in the NBA,” said Wade to 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. If this partnership is going to be anything like my relationship is with Ryan, there are going to be a lot of things that I’ll want to be involved in.”
“It’s bigger than basketball!” tweeted Wade.
Wade first got the bug for team ownership after meeting and developing a friendship with Utah Jazz majority team owner, Ryan Smith. The tech leader bought the team for $1.666 billion in October and has been mentoring Wade in the business.
“Dwyane has had a chance to be part of so many different [ownership] groups if he wanted that,” Smith told ESPN. “We’ve basically been in discussion from the time we closed on the team on how we can get this done. Like I run my tech business, you want the brightest people around.
“There is a broad picture here. It’s much more than just basketball. This league is the biggest platform that there is, and we ran toward that. This isn’t a league where we came in saying, ‘Hey, this has gone somewhere we’re not comfortable with.’ This is actually what we signed up for. We’re the newest ownership group. We’re the youngest. Dwyane’s a perfect fit.”
Dwyane Wade has great synergy with the organization. Not only through his friendship with Smith, but also through his close relationship with Jazz star, Donovan Mitchell. This made the decision even easier to make.
“I don’t look at this as only a Utah Jazz relationship,” said Wade. “I look at this as a relationship that’s multifaceted — business, basketball, me being able to bring Ryan into my world just as he’s bringing me into his world.”
And now Dwyane Wade has opened up the door to the world of team ownership for others like Mitchell to eventually follow.
