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Dwyane Wade Says Basketball ‘Restored’ His Family

The former NBA star reflects prior to forthcoming documentary.

Dwyane Wade is preparing the release of a comprehensive new documentary about his life before and after he became an NBA All-Star and Champion.

Produced by ESPN Films and Imagine Documentaries and directed by Bob Metelus, D. Wade: Life Unexpected reportedly includes years of footage of private and public moments from Wade’s journey, giving viewers a raw look at his life before, during and after basketball.

“It was very difficult,” he told PEOPLE Magazine. “And I think a lot of it is, once you’ve dealt with something — whether it was 10 years ago or six years ago — and then you have to bring it back, it becomes current again.”

The documentary looks beyond Wade’s successes on the court, including a detailed dive into his rough childhood in Chicago, a painful custody battle, and more. As for basketball though, Wade says it’s the biggest factor in keeping his family in tact.

“The biggest thing that basketball has given me? It restored my family. My family will not leave this earth without having made some kind of imprint,” he said. “Basketball has given me sort of like, ‘There go the Wades right there. We see them.’ So, I’m proud of that. I’m proud of being the one in my family that could put us on the sheet somewhere where people will remember, hopefully, our impact as a family.”

In 2019, Dwyane Wade retired from the NBA after 16 seasons. He says walking away from the game was surprisingly easy given that it was his time to step away.

“I felt that I just didn’t have the same love and the same passion for the process and for the journey. It wasn’t the game. I love basketball, he said. “I love basketball. But the journey and the process just became … It was too much. I just don’t want to do it anymore and I didn’t want to do it the same.”

He continued: “Summertime, I didn’t want to work hard anymore. It was all these things that led me to be like, ‘Okay, before you embarrass yourself and your family out here, you need to walk away.’”

D. Wade: Life Unexpected will premiere this Sunday (February 23) at 9 pm EST on ESPN. Watch a trailer for the documentary below.

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