Zaire Wade grew up as the son of one of the NBA’s best players, but the 21-year-old Chicago native is carving out his own legacy on the hardwood.
Following his high school career, Wade elected to pursue an opportunity in the NBA G League rather than play in college. This February, he signed with the Cape Town Tigers of the Basketball Africa League, the latest stop on his hoops journey.
We caught up with Wade recently to discuss his basketball goals, his relationship with his father Dwyane, his friendship with Bronny James and more.
Let’s get started:
The Spun: First off, we wanted to know some more about how you got involved in Thorne’s “Build to Last” campaign with your dad.
Zaire Wade: I would say it all started when I first had one of my ankle injuries a few years ago. Just being sidelined, me and my dad were talking about looking into what other things I can start putting into my body and start taking that will be useful on and off the court.
That’s when I discovered Thorne and started finding certain supplements that I thought at that time would help my injury. From there, it just evolved.
The Spun: Moving on to your basketball career. Looking back, coming out of high school, what led you to decide to go the G League route as opposed to going and playing in college?
ZW: I think the COVID year was the biggest thing that led to that decision. I was at Sierra Canyon [in California] and from there I went to Brewster Academy in New Hampshire. It was a great school. They obviously had great history there. The experience was great for me as far as getting exposure, but obviously COVID hit and that stopped games from happening, coaches from being able to attend my workouts and games, whatever the case was. It was like ‘Okay, we can go to college with the offers that we have.’ It sounded like most coaches wanted me to be, at least as a freshman, have my first year be about watching and learning. Which was fine, but we just thought why not do that in the pros?
What people may not know is my first year was supposed to be as a practice player with Salt Lake. I was not going to travel, was not going to play, I was just going to learn. I was going to work on my business that I started at 16, but then it just turned into a contract and I was able to travel and play with the team.
The Spun: How did that year in the G League go? Obviously, you had the injury unfortunately but what was that whole experience like?
ZW: It was a great experience, just taking that next step. Having your teammates go from being 17, 18 to being 30 and things like that, just taking that maturing step and having to really be mature around my peers on and off the court with how I approach the game.
I remember the veterans on our team teaching me the way to approach practice: when to show up, how early to get there, when to be stretching on the court. Even when I did get my moments, when I did play a lot, it was good to get that experience of having to be a point guard in front of a crowd for a team that wanted to win.
The Spun: I was wondering if you could take us through your decision to go play in Africa. How has that been for you and what are some of the differences between playing there and playing in America?
ZW: I think what went into the decision about going to Africa was one, just finding my love and true passion again for the game. I let a lot get into my head when I was in the G League that year, which I shouldn’t have. Just being 19 at the time, now I’m 21, a few years older and more mature. I think that was the first thing. If I did love the game, I would travel across the world to play it.
And then two, obviously the G League was a great experience for me being that I was as close to the NBA as you can possibly be, league-wise. But I think I needed to go somewhere where I could play and show my capabilities so that I could go back to the USA and a G League team and show them ‘Hey, this is what I can really do’ vs. them taking a high school guy.
Then, off the court as well, I tried to grow and expand and learn some new cultures, stuff like that.
The Spun: For you, is the focus still to play in the NBA? What do you think are the next steps to make that happen?
ZW: Yea, that’s definitely my focus and goal. I think, for me, the next step is getting with somebody who can kind of pitch my name out as being a young developmental piece to teams. I’ve got my pops in my corner, my uncle Chris in my corner, but I think we might need a third or fourth voice, other people to advocate for myself around the league.
I don’t know exactly what the next step would be. I wish I did, but I think that would be a start towards the next step for sure.
The Spun: How much has it meant for you to see the public support from your dad for your career and the public support he has had for your sister Zaya, just the way he’s come forward for you over the years?
ZW: Yeah, I think that’s something that not a lot of kids get to experience from their parents. He gets a lot of backlash from it but I think if you flip gears and look at it from the side that you should be, he’s one of the biggest supportive parent figures that we have today. He does it so unconditionally. I feel like that’s the biggest thing for me. I can tell it’s all genuine, especially when it comes to my sister. Just the way he takes pride in being an advocate for her and our family. He knows he has a voice and he knows how to use it, no matter how people take it.
For me personally with basketball, just the way he believes in me and speaks out, he always stays 10 toes [down] and speaks on what he knows.
The Spun: Obviously, your father has been a major influence on you from a basketball perspective, but who else did you kind of model your game after growing up?
ZW: When I was younger, I really used to like Chris Paul. I really loved his game. And I felt like that was relatable because I was a point guard. Just the way he passed, I loved to pass, get my teammates involved. When we moved to Miami, just watching Jason Williams in person when I was really young, and obviously getting older and seeing Kobe play. Just having those early moments of guys like that that I used to look up to for different reasons, whether it was because I wanted to play like them or be like them as a person. They became uncles to me. They became real special.
Note: We spoke with Zaire before Bronny James’ collapse and cardiac arrest during a workout at USC this week, so that’s why the next portion of the interview doesn’t mention it at all.
The Spun: After you and Bronny James played together at Sierra Canyon, have you followed his game at all? What do you think of how his career has unfolded and everything he’s dealt with being LeBron’s son? How has he handled it?
ZW: I think he’s handled it great. We talked about it way back, how it is being in the spotlight. He’s doing his thing. That’s all you can want as a friend, is somebody who is carving his own path. I’m definitely proud of him, because he definitely has a lot on his shoulders, and he doesn’t get into a lot of the stuff off the court that people try to bait him into that would maybe deter his future, which I really applaud him for.
The Spun: My last question: I know you said recently in an interview with ESPN that you wanted to compete for the Democratic Republic of Congo. How is that process going? Do you think you’ll be able to do that?
ZW: I think in order to do that, you have to like a dual-citizenship type thing, something of that nature. We’re working on that and once that’s done, we should be good.
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