Getty Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler
Dwyane Wade will have his number 3 jersey retired by the Miami Heat this this Saturday.
A three-time NBA Champion while playing alongside Shaquille O’Neal and later with the Big Three-era Heat squad with LeBron James and Chris Bosh, Wade retired at the end of last season with career averages of 22 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists per contest.
The Heat’s fifth pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by way of Marquette, Wade has the respect from the city of Miami; not just with basketball players but with entertainers from Miami as well.
Insert rapper and radio host, Trina.
With hits like “Baddest Chick” and “Pull Over,” Trina is Miami culture and she told me why Dwyane Wade embodies M-I-A.
I caught up with Trina last month before she graced the stage at Demp Week in Tallahassee, Florida.
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 24: Trina performs during the RapCaviar Live Concert on October 24, 2019 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by John Parra/Getty Images for Spotify)
Check out our Q&A below.
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: Dwayne Wade’s jersey is getting retired on February 22nd. What’s your fondest memory of D-Wade?
Trina: Umm, all of them. I think D-Wade is Miami. I mean he’s brought such a tremendous amount of energy and talent and effort and just passion to Miami as a whole. He did so much for the city, for the team, for the community, for the kids, everything. So always to me, he is Miami.
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: Do you remember the first time you met him?
Trina: I don’t remember the first time, but I do remember one good time I had performed for one of his charities and it was a very very very exhilarating experience.
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: When you look at the Miami Heat, they were an expansion team. 1989 I believe when they came in. Rony Seikaly, Steve Smith, Alonzo Mourning later came with Tim Hardaway, and of course the championship runs with Bosh, Wade and LeBron. When you look at Miami basketball, aside from Wade what stands out to you?
Trina: Just unity. To me those guys stuck together like a brotherhood. Like a family, more brotherhood more family to me. I think it just brought a lot of positive energy to the city of Miami as a whole and just the way they played, the way they kept it together…I think just as a whole that they played together, came to Miami and brought all of that I think it made that’s what made Miami actually what it is, especially when it comes to sports because it’s the Miami Heat and it’s like the biggest thing to happen down there.