After building a legendary NBA career, Dwyane Wade is navigating another challenging role: fatherhood – and he’s already pointing to the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese as an example to follow.
For Dwyane, raising his youngest daughter, Kaavia, has introduced a new set of responsibilities and he is also learning how to balance parenting with nurturing her growing interest in basketball.
Kaavia has not only embraced the sport as a fun pastime but also draws inspiration from one of the WNBA’s brightest stars in the form of the 23-year-old forward with the Sky.
Dwyane explained during a conversation on IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson. He stressed that raising a young athlete comes with demands and sacrifices, particularly when Kaavia aspires to emulate someone like Reese.
“Because the things I’m going to have, the things she’s going to do to want to be a great athlete, when she say, ‘Oh, I want to be better than Angel Reese,'” Wade began. “Okay. I hear you.
“And so the things you’re going to want, that you’re gonna have to do … And so yeah, my tone gonna be a little different to your mom’s, you know, I’m gonna look at our conversation, it’s gonna be different.”
That’s because he has taken an active role in coaching his daughter, guiding her development on the court, meaning he will be far tougher when it comes to integrating the standards needed to reach the top.
Dwyane emphasized that while Kaavia has yet to fully commit to basketball as a primary focus, she understands the distinction between his role as a father and as her coach and is capable of separating the two.
“And so I believe from my understanding, she respects it, you know,” Dwyane added. “She respect the way that I communicate, but she don’t like it.
“But I can see her right away when we get done with that moment, she comes, we hug, we don’t miss a beat, she’s not staring me down, we on the couch.
“So, it’s a different dynamic that we have. Not saying her mom needs to have that dynamic. It’s just… this is just, how this is gonna go. I’m coach.”
Why does Angel Reese stand out to Kaavia Wade?
Dwyane‘s efforts to cultivate role models for his daughters were evident in his 2023 purchase of a stake in the Chicago Sky as he looked to provide them with the same exposure to the sport as his son, Zaire, enjoys.
Then the acquisition of Reese by the Sky immediately resonated with Kaavia, who created a meaningful connection with the professional hooper upon meeting her for the first time.
“Seeing is believing. Thank you for being a model for all our daughters,” Dwyane said of Reese, who is also known as ‘Bayou Barbie’ at LSU and ‘Chi-Town Barbie’ with Chicago, and reciprocated the affection, reposting a video of Kaavia on her Instagram Story.
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