Nebraska Basketball: Honorary Husker Dwyane Wade responds to Anthony Edwards

While Dwyane Wade was never actually a member of the Nebraska basketball team, he’s repped the program quite admirably over the years as an “honorary Husker.” That honorary status comes from the fact that he’s married to Omaha native Gabrielle Union. It also comes from the fact that both he and Union have gone out of their way to bring positive attention to an athletic program that has been rather downtrodden over the last few years.

Wade is also an admirable representative of the Nebraska basketball program and the school in particular because he’s someone who is willing to admit that over the years he’s had to adjust the way he thinks about certain issues. One of those issues came up again this week after the former NBA superstar was asked his thoughts on the recent anti-LGBTQ message that Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards put out there in a video on social media.

The Wrap caught up to Wade and asked him his thoughts regarding the comments by Edwards on his Instagram account that have led to the guard being fined $40,000. Considering his family history, it would have been understandable for Wade to respond angrily. Instead, he took the point of view that Edwards doesn’t need condemnation, but rather he just needs to learn and grow.

Specifically, Wade was asked what words of wisdom he had for Edwards. The future Hall-of-Famer responded that he didn’t know if he had any words of wisdom but then expanded on his thoughts, showing he did indeed possess wisdom about the issue.

"“We all have to be able to be … I don’t know, exposed and we all have to have more experiences in life. There’s a lot of things I said I wouldn’t do, a lot of things I didn’t understand until I got an opportunity to be exposed to it. Then I got a chance to really see what it is and not just take what was told to me while I was growing up.”"

The Nebraska basketball ambassador went on to walk about how people are always young and make mistakes at some point. He emphasized that in the end, it’s far more important to note how people learn and how they grow.

He went on to say that while he hasn’t followed the Anthony Edwards situation too closely, he did understand what was said and what the controversy is. He then said that he has nothing but positive things to say about the Timberwolves player and that he thinks this is the kind of situation that will help Edwards grow.

Edwards found himself in hot water after he posted a video to his personal Instagram account where he passed a group of men, rolled down a car window and yelled a homosexual slur at them. While the video was taken down rather quickly, it wasn’t done so before the internet had managed to see and circulate the footage. Edwards later apologized for the comment, adding that he was “raised better than that.”

As a parent, Wade has a unique understanding of the kinds of verbal abuse and actual abuse that can be aimed at the LGBTQ+ community. The unofficial Nebraska basketball ambassador’s daughter, Zaya identifies as transgender.

In an interview with CBS News back in 2020, the former superstar basketball player made it clear that Zaya, who was born a genetic male, knew she was a girl from the age of three years old.

In that same interview, he admitted that she was his first interaction with the LGBTQ+ community.

"“I knew early on that I had to check myself. … I’ve been a person in the locker room that has been a part of the conversation that has said the wrong phrases and the wrong words myself.”"

His response and approach to Anthony Edwards was the right one for someone who is unofficially repping the Nebraska basketball community as well as the larger athletic program as he didn’t lash out but rather seems to want to help educate.