Dwyane Wade Receives Honorary Doctorate From Marquette
May 23, 2022, 3:29 PM
Utah Jazz minority owner Dwyane Wade at a celebrate at Marquette (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
(Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – You can call him Doctor Wade next time you see him walking the isles of Vivint Smart Home Arena.
Utah Jazz minority owner Dwyane Wade received his honorary doctorate degree from Marquette University over the weekend, nearly 20 years after he left his alma mater to chase his NBA dreams.
Along with the doctorate degree, Wade served as the Class of 2022’s commencement speaker, and officially earned an honorary doctor of humane letters degree.
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The Jazz owner spent two seasons at Marquette before being drafted by the Miami Heat with the fifth overall pick in the vaunted 2003 NBA draft that included LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony.
Wade spent 16 seasons in the NBA, 14 of which came with the Heat before retiring in 2019. The guard was a 13-time All-Star in Miami and a member of three championship teams.
He joined the Jazz ownership group in April of 2021 and has since made regular appearances at the team’s games and functions.
“Dr. Dwyane T Wade Jr has a nice ring to it,” Wade wrote in an Instagram caption of a photo with him and his sister Tragil Wade-Johnson.
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According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wade spoke to nearly 2,000 students at the graduation held at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater on the Summerfest grounds.
“As we become more self-aware, we achieve a better understanding of who we are,” Wade said according to the Sentinel. “We discover our values. Our character. What we consider to be right or wrong. We discover what drives us, what inspires us and motivates us. Through self-awareness we are given the opportunity to design who we truly want and deserve to be.”
Fellow Marquette alum and famed actor Willem Defoe was also honored with an honorary Doctor of Arts degree and also offered a commencement speech.
