D. Watkins, B.A. '09, MFA, '14, prize-winning author and assistant professor in The University of Baltimore's Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences, has contributed a feature article on Miami Heat star player Dwyane Wade to The Atlantic. The article, appearing in the May 2025 edition of the magazine, covers Wade's childhood, his long journey to the NBA, his multiple championships, and his growth as a husband and father. Watkins, an editor at large at Salon and the winner of multiple literary awards, including the 2024 James Beard Media Award in the Beverage category for his Salon essay on the sobriety movement, follows Wade through a time of change in his life. The article, "Dwyane Wade's Greatest Challenge," opens with a scene at the unveiling of a statue of Wade in Miami years after his playing days—an event that rankled the sports world because of the look of the statue.
"Wade has seen the highest reaches of American athletic success: All-Star, All-Star MVP, scoring champion, NBA champion, Finals MVP, Olympic gold medalist," Watkins writes. "Yet as intense as he may have been on the basketball court, in the six years since his retirement, he has presented a different face to the world—one that doesn't fit with a certain narrow way of thinking about how a Black man should carry himself."
Read the article in The Atlantic (subscription may be required).
Learn more about Prof. D. Watkins.