Decades later, the memories persist.
Dwyane Wade and Travis Diener loved creating them and not to mention how much Marquette fans still think fondly of them. They took Marquette to the Final Four in 2003, which remains the school’s only trip to that basketball promised land since Al Maguire wove his magic in 1977.
They’ll surely reminisce about all of that over the next few days during the Wade & Diener Home Court Weekend. It starts tonight with the dynamic duo being guest bartenders from 4-7 p.m., at Central Standard Crafthouse & Kitchen. They’ll also run a basketball camp for kids Friday at The Facility in Mequon. Funds raised will support the Tragil Wade-Johnson Summer Reading Program, the Visit Milwaukee Foundation and Marquette Basketball.
For the duo, the past was only prologue, a platform that raised them toward their next challenges.
For Diener, that meant coming back home to Wisconsin and building The Facility in Mequon, where he coaches and develops young athletes. “What better way to continue my passion for the game than to pour it into the kids in this gym,” Diener said during a quick chat at The Facility. “You realize at this age, that you can have a bigger impact, that’s what’s cool about this weekend in July.”
Experience an unforgettable evening celebrating great design!
For Wade, who became one of the greatest NBA players of all time, the path was somewhat more complex.
Since he retired, you’ve seen him as a celebrated TV host and he’s now growing his own media brand, the WY Network. Given his comfort with the camera and microphone, they seem like natural choices.
But getting there took some soul-searching.
“I didn’t struggle in the public eye or financially, I struggled with purpose. “ Wade said. “Basketball felt like my purpose for so long and then once I walked away from it, I was like, ‘what now?’ And so, my journey has been to discover a new purpose.”
For Wade, this was no small undertaking; it was influenced by all the steps along the way. The ones that took him from inner-city Chicago, to being academically ineligible for NCAA basketball, to starring for one of the sport’s most storied programs turning into an NBA legend.
“I have an affection for this city forever, for Marquette forever,” Wade remarked. “I got the opportunity here to show who I really am outside of the environment I grew up in, because I know for a kid from the inner city of Chicago, how important the opportunity is and look what it’s allowed me to go off and do.”
For Wade and Diener, that last part is the crux of it. As the athletic feats fade into memory, legacy building doesn’t stop. Which means the focus sharpens elsewhere, zooming in on newfound purposes.
“I find purpose in people, whether it’s being a leader or supporting them I always find purpose in people,” said Wade. “So that’s where I put my energy.”
It’s why he returns to Milwaukee, year after year, to have fun with an old friend while raising money for causes dear to him and it’s why the legacies for both stars extend far beyond Final Four and NBA title runs.
“The one thing I know is, when you meet someone, they talk about that interaction and they tell someone else and then that person tells someone else, that’s your legacy,” Wade said. “Legacy isn’t about how many points you score or how many championships you win, it’s about what people talk about when you’re not in the room anymore, so my legacy lies in people and that’s become my purpose.”
