Wade is returning to Chicago this season after 13 years starring for the Miami Heat.
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About a week after 32-year-old Nykea Aldridge was fatally shot while pushing her baby in a stroller, her cousin the Chicago Bulls player Dwyane Wade shared his thoughts on the tragedy.
In an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America, the star shooting guard has revealed his true motivations behind coming home. “Big time”, Wade said.
The month of August ended as the deadliest Chicago has seen in almost two decades with 472 shooting victims and 90 homicides.
“I grew up in one of the, probably one of the toughest eras when it comes to murders in the early ’90s in Chicago”.
Although basketball has brought Wade back to his hometown this year, he sees his objective as being bigger than the game itself. Wade joined with fellow NBA stars LeBron James, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony to open the telecast by declaring the crises of gun violence and police profiling to be “bigger than basketball”. It’s what I do for a living. Wade, being a Chicago native, wants to see more change occur and the violence decrease. She wasn’t the intended target, Cmdr. Aldridge was one of 90 people killed in August alone in the city.
Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the suspects are an example of the city’s problem with repeat offenders, which he has spoken about frequently in recent months. The eight-month toll marked the most killings in Chicago since 488 people were slain through August 1997.
“They come to you and say, ‘But dad, kids are being killed by police officers, ‘” he said. Not all police, obviously, but my boys hear everything that’s going on in the world, all the harassment, all the murders that’s going on.
While most sane humans reacted to the Chicago shooting by offering their condolences to the Wade and Aldridge families, resident racist Donald Trump decided the best way for him to grieve was to use the mother-of-four’s murder to attract black voters! “We will continue to target the gangs that drive the majority of violence but with almost half of those we arrest for murder being repeated gun offenders, we need help to ensure these individuals stay off our streets after repeated arrests for guns”, the statement said. A pair of brothers, both identified as gang members in Chicago, have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder for her death. The brothers had extensive criminal histories and were parolees.
The Chicago mother was walking her children to school when she was caught in the crossfire between two men. NBC5’s Regina Waldroup reports. But he said we can all contribute.
Wade said Chicago police can do a lot better but they need more help, including stronger gun laws. Every day, officers put their lives at risk engaging armed offenders and almost every hour, they take another illegal gun off our city streets. “If we want to stop this epidemic, it’s needed now”, he continued. Wade said he understands that Aldridge’s death is a microcosm of issues plaguing the community. Wade said his sons ask questions and he, in turn, will do the same to the mayor and the city.
“It was shocking. It was shocking to hear not only that she was murdered, but it was shocking to hear the way and how”.
Wade will hold an event in Miami on September 17 to promote cycling safety and unity in the community, and Miami police officers plan to pedal alongside him on the six-mile bike ride. Wade said he felt conflicted.
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He has consequently been accused of using the death of Nykea to push his political agenda and gain votes from African-American citizens. “On the other end, it’s a national story”. He then went on to say, “Just what I have been saying. I want eyes on this city”.
