The Miami Heat have four games remaining in the regular season and are a half-game out of the eighth and final playoff spot, but whether their season ends next week or extends into late April/early May, NBA fans are witnessing the final go-around for one of the greatest guards in league history as Dwyane Wade will officially retire when the 2019 campaign comes to a close.
His farewell tour has provided plenty of heartfelt moments with friends and former foes alike as the future Hall-of-Famer has done some memorable post-game jersey exchanges with his peers around the league (and at least one awkward encounter with poor Emmanuel Mudiay everyone would rather just forget).
Wade, along with wife Gabrielle Union and their infant child, sat down with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols this week for a wide-ranging conversation about his career, during which Wade admitted that he might benefit from some professional help as he navigates the potentially treacherous waters of life after basketball.
“I’ll be in therapy,” Wade said. “No, seriously. I mean, it is going to be a big change. I told my wife, I said, ‘I need to do therapy, we need to do a little bit, and I was always against someone that don’t know me telling me how to live my life or giving me instructions on it, but I need someone to talk to about it. Because it is a big change. Even though I got a long life to live, and there’s other great things I can accomplish and do, it’s not this. So it’s going to be different.”
Players around the league have been increasingly outspoken about addressing mental health issues directly. Kevin Love, DeMar DeRozan, and several others have talked publicly about their battles with depression and anxiety in recent years, all of which helps reduce the stigma around seeking help.
Professional athletes face a unique challenge in that their careers end relatively early in life, which leaves them with the question of what to do in their second act. Fortunately for Wade, his interests are varied, whether it’s fashion or wine-making or social justice initiatives. He is likely just as eager us to find out what his next chapter holds.
