“We all talk about support, and support looks different for everyone,” Wade, who will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame next month, told ESPN. “And so instead of tweeting out and saying ‘go support the W,’ instead of showing up at the game and supporting, I wanted to take it to that next level, and this was the next level for me.
“It’s a great opportunity to be a part of the league in its very early stages. … Growth is going to happen, and so I want to be a part of the growth of this league.”
Wade’s investment is subject to approval from the WNBA board of governors. His exact ownership percentage has not been disclosed.
“He has made an impact now in business and philanthropy in really significant ways that are abiding and authentic and true, and that is who we are at the Chicago Sky,” Sky co-owner and operating chairman Nadia Rawlinson told ESPN. “And so the fact that now he can help us be part of his story with that is extraordinary.”
Wade’s interest in the WNBA made waves last month after he was seen visiting a Sky practice in Deerfield, Illinois. His interactions with the team earned rave reviews from players, Rawlinson said, before his official involvement was announced Friday.
The NBA legend is the newest investor in the franchise after the Sky sold an approximate 10% stake of the team (at an $85 million valuation) last month to a group including Chicago Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts.
Michael Alter, who first brought the team to Chicago ahead of the 2006 season, remains the team’s principal owner.
This isn’t the first pro sports ownership endeavor for Wade, who retired from the NBA in 2019 and has since joined the ownership groups for the NBA’s Utah Jazz and MLS’ Real Salt Lake. And when it comes to the Sky, Wade said, the partnership just “makes sense.”