Florida, especially South Florida, is still shaken after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and people everywhere are taking a stance and doing something for the cause.
Miami Heat player Dwyane Wade even spoke out about the matter after learning that one of the school shooting victims, Joaquin Oliver, had been buried in his basketball jersey. Oliver had been a big fan of Wade, especially after his return to the Heat after seasons being away playing for the Cavaliers. Oliver’s parents told the Al Punto talk show that they had buried their son in Wade’s jersey because it was something he would have wanted.
Wade tweeted out after he heard the news: “You’re about to make me cry this afternoon.” But this wasn’t the end of the matter. Wade followed up on Monday with more tweets on the subject, becoming more serious. He said “We are the voices for the people that don’t get to be heard.” And this is very true. Everyone knows something about basketball in the United States and most can tell you about the most popular players who get paid millions of dollars a year to play professional ball. These players are their own kind of celebrities and they can really use these positions for the good of the world.
And Dwyane Wade is doing just that: he also tweeted “This is why we will not just SHUT up and dribble!” This was a comment he made after dedicating his season to Oliver. This brings up a whole other subject about how basketball players are real people with real thoughts and aren’t just there for amusement. This ties back to a situation where Fox News host Laura Ingraham was talking about other NBA stars, namely LeBron James and Kevin Durant, who had made some comments about the President of the United States, which made Ingraham reply that players should “shut up and dribble.”
Wade continues to express his feelings about the matter and becoming very emotional as he does so. Talking to reporters he says that he “takes a lot of pride in what [he] has done in this state and what [he] has meant for the youth. It’s emotional even thinking…that his parents felt that burying him in my jersey is something that he wanted.”
Wade sees himself as a father first in life and added that his mom always said that his life was bigger than basketball and that he should carry around how he wants to be treated by treating others the same. It comes to a point where we have to see the good people in his shoes can do for those that cant do as much, but each and every one of us has to make that commitment to ourselves to make the world a better place and a place where we can leave our children to grow.