Dwyane Wade Hurt Friends With $23.08 Billion Opportunity That Wife, Gabrielle Union Was Excluded From

Since hanging up his jersey, Dwyane Wade ain’t just sitting around. Dude’s building a whole empire. Between slinging wine with Wade Cellars, dropping fashion lines, and co-owning both the Utah Jazz and Chicago Sky, he’s staying busy. And he’s also got two podcasts (Time Out with Dwyane Wade and The Why). On them, he talks about life, culture, and much more. In most episodes of Time Out, he has his closest squad over. Giving listeners a real look at their tight-knit dynamic. Frequent guests include Dorell Wright, his former Miami Heat teammate; Chris Johnson, a top NBA trainer; and Bob Metelus, Wade’s longtime business partner and creative ally.

And now, Dwyane Wade is adding another brick to his empire through a new partnership with Aramis, the legendary men’s fragrance brand under Estée Lauder Companies. He’ll serve as global ambassador for their upcoming scent, Intuition by Aramis, launching worldwide in August 2025.

A lifelong fragrance lover, Wade revealed his passion for cologne traces back to his childhood. It was influenced by his father’s use of scents like Cool Water. Well, naturally, you’d assume Gabrielle Union would be involved in this huge step, right?

However, on his podcast Time Out with Dwyane Wade, he shared how he didn’t tell his wife a word. “I don’t tell everybody everything that I’m doing,” he admitted. “So I didn’t tell my wife I was doing this at first. I just started wearing it to see what she would say.” He simply waited for her to figure it out using the Wifely intuition. 

Was the revelation hurtful then? Well, not so much for Gabrielle Union, but Wade’s friends surely had a big reaction.

On the same podcast, Dwyane Wade shared with Dorell, Chris, and Bob, “So this is Intuition by Aramis…um, this is, I am the face of this new fragrance right here. Something I’ve been…uh, keeping a secret for a while. It doesn’t come out till August.” And his friends had the most comical reactions to give. Chris Johnson immediately reacted: “Okay so damn, we keeping a real secret! Because bro, you know right now around here. Bob, you know we on our smell good, we in our smell good era. And you kept a real good secret, bro. That’s crazy.”

His response was hilarious precisely because of the reason behind the hurt being “we in our smell good era”. His exaggerated shock and the way he immediately pulled Bob into it was authentic banter. Later, everyone chipped in with funny comments. The organic back-and-forth proved why their podcast chemistry works so well.

Well, the leg-pulling didn’t stop there. Chris even brought up a party Dwyane Wade threw to which he did not invite the three, when he was in New York for the Met Gala. Wade immediately tried clarifying, “No no no no this is a Met Gala GQ.” And Dorell had his perfect mic drop moment after it.

“So you had to have a ticket to the Met Gala to go to your party.”

Basically, they were the kind of sarcastic truth bombs only real friends can drop. This is why their dynamic works. They roast each other mercilessly instead of letting minor grievances fester. Most friend groups would quietly resent being left out of a VIP event, but Wade’s crew handles it by clowning him to his face. It’s not just joking, but it’s their way of calling out small slights before they become real issues, keeping their decades-long bond authentic.

Dwyane Wade is becoming fashion’s new MVP

The intersection of sports and fashion has long fascinated audiences, and Dwyane Wade has masterfully navigated this space. Known as a style icon, Wade stood out by adapting to the NBA’s 2005 dress code shift, trading baggy suits for polished designer looks. His instincts paid off, landing him on Esquire’s best-dressed list. As The Atlantic noted, Wade’s wardrobe signaled a broader cultural shift, proving athletes could redefine fashion on their terms.

Dwyane Wade is breaking new ground now as guest editor for Players magazine’s debut issue. Conceived by Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld, the publication bridges fashion and sports, targeting a crossover market worth $418.4 billion. Roitfeld told The New York Times, “Actors…try to have a discreet life. But for athletes, fashion builds identity.”

Wade, he said, is “someone who really has a voice that speaks to the two industries.” The inaugural issue celebrates basketball culture, featuring 10 cover stars like Cameron Brink, Spike Lee, and Giorgio Armani, styled in Louis Vuitton and Balenciaga.

Shot by photographers like Mario Sorrenti, the magazine elevates athletes as fashion icons. Dwyane Wade’s vision goes beyond aesthetics. He wants to showcase their “personalities and characters.” “You can’t think of fashion without athletes now,” he said, “but it wasn’t always that way.”

Wade’s journey reflects a larger shift: athletes claiming space in fashion on their own terms. From NBA dress codes to magazine covers, he’s championed self-expression. “It took a while for the door to open,” Wade noted. Now, he’s ensuring it stays open, empowering others to step through with confidence. His work with Players cements his role as a bridge between two powerhouse industries.