Dwyane Wade on a Messy Divorce's Aftermath

When I was young, I thought, “I want to do everything different.” I wanted to be the one to break what my sister calls “the generational curse of my family.” And I was able to do that when it comes to the financial side. But I wanted to do everything else different, too. In the end, I followed in my parents’ footsteps: I got married on the same day my mom and dad got married, and divorced when my sons were the same age my sister and I were when our parents divorced.

I went in hoping the judge would see what was best for the kids. I didn’t go in there knockin’ their mother and saying, “She’s a terrible mother.” I just said, “At this time I believe that what’s best for our kids is for them to be living under my roof.” The rest of it came in what she threw at me. I stuck to my principles of what I believe is the most important. And it was those two kids. My divorce went on for about four years, and my custody battle went on for three. The team was very understanding. In Miami, we have a family-first organization. As long as my play wasn’t dropping on the court, they were 100 percent on board with everything that I needed to do.