[Miami Heat](https://heatnation.com/) legend Dwyane Wade’s journey to becoming one of the best shooting guards of all time is all the more remarkable when factoring in that he came from very humble beginnings.
Wade grew up poor in the Chicago area, and he and his father talked about their circumstances during a podcast episode. The three-time NBA champion noted that there were times growing up where his family didn’t always have lights, heat or water.
> “Bro, we were poor, bro,” Wade said. “Bro, I mean, when I tell people, they don’t — it’s hard for people to believe it. When you don’t have lights, when you don’t have water at times, we don’t know. Pops was…doing this job and this job and this job to keep the lights on, and then the lights may stay on, or this may go off, or we got to all get by the heater. You know what I’m saying? The heat may not be on. We got to get by the oven or — like, we grew up that way.”
Wade’s dad then talked about an unbelievably low weekly income he was earning at one point in time.
> “We grew up poor,” Wade’s father said. “At one point, I was getting $73 dollars a week, $73 dollars a week. S—, I raised so many kids off $73 dollars, I don’t even know how that s— happened.
The 13-time All-Star noted that his family benefited from public assistance back in the day.
> “Well, we had a little help from WIC and all that, too,” Wade said. “We had a little help from the public aid. We were definitely on public aid.”
It’s safe to claim that Wade no longer has to worry about whether he can afford household utilities. His net worth is many millions of dollars, and not only is he financially set for life, but he’s built generational wealth.
Wade built much of his wealth by starring for the Heat organization for many years. He spent the lion’s share of his pro career in Miami and earned every one of his 13 All-Star appearances with the team. Wade earned a scoring title with the Heat back in the 2008-09 season as well when he averaged 30.2 points per game.
But he didn’t just enjoy individual success during his time in Miami. He was also the ultimate winner. Wade is one of only two players who played for every one of the three Heat title teams in 2006, 2012 and 2013, and he was a top talent on all of those squads.
The No. 5 overall pick back in the 2003 NBA Draft even took home the Finals MVP award after the Heat won their first championship in franchise history back in 2006. He dominated the [Dallas Mavericks](https://ahnfiredigital.com/category/nba/dallas-mavericks/) in that year’s championship series, as he averaged a whopping 34.7 points per game in those NBA Finals as just a third-year player.
All in all, the fact that Wade had to overcome childhood difficulties to become an NBA superstar only adds to his legendary status, and it’s great to know that his children won’t have to struggle in the ways he did when he was in his formative years.