This morning I ran across some stories about former NBA star Dwayne Wade that are obviously intended as slams on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republicans in that deep red state.
It started with a People Magazine story about why Wade moved his family from Miami to Los Angeles:
Dwyane Wade Says Family Is His Motivation for Having Left Florida: 'Would Not Be Accepted' (Exclusive) https://t.co/gY2JU92ZnF
— People (@people) April 26, 2023
“Would not be accepted” in Florida? OK.
Other media outlets jumped on that, and here’s how CBS News reported it:
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Former Miami Heat champion Dwyane Wade said he moved his family out of Florida because he felt they "would not be accepted or feel comfortable there" because of anti-LGBTQ+ policies in the state. https://t.co/K5hMCd66Jy
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 27, 2023
This makes it sound like Wade decided to move this year or maybe last year:
Former Miami Heat champion Dwyane Wade said he moved his family out of Florida because he felt they “would not be accepted or feel comfortable there” because of anti-LGBTQ+ policies in the state.
Wade explained his relationship with the state in an interview for “Headliners with Rachel Nichols”; the clip was exclusively shared with People.
“That’s another reason why I don’t live in that state,” Wade said in response to a question about Florida’s politicians who advocate for legislation that negatively impacts the LGBTQ+ community. “A lot of people don’t know that. I have to make decisions for my family, not just personal, individual decisions.”
Oddly enough, the actual date when Wade moved from Florida to California is not mentioned in any of these stories. As it turns out, there’s a reason for that: It would have ruined the narrative they’re going for.
According to a People Mag feature on Wade from 2020, he and his family moved to California the previous year, in 2019, and nowhere in the story are political considerations cited as the reason:
Dwyane Wade‘s family has settled into their new surroundings in Los Angeles, but like any coastal move, it hasn’t been a 100 percent smooth transition.
The retired NBA star, 38, sat down with PEOPLE this week for an exclusive interview leading up to his documentary D. Wade: Life Unexpected, saying that the transition from Florida (where he spent the majority of his 16-year NBA career playing for the Miami Heat) to Los Angeles has “definitely” been tough.
“We miss Miami,” says Wade, who retired from professional basketball last year. “Of course, that definitely had become home to us, especially my kids. But my wife [Gabrielle Union] works in L.A., my daughters lived in L.A. with my wife, so we’ve got to go. My home is where my family is.”
Again, there’s not a word in the 2020 People story about Wade leaving Florida because of any laws there.
He literally moved out of Miami to California in 2019 before any of the legislation he’s talking about was even being discussed. He said he moved because 1. “his family lived in L.A. and 2. he could be a normal dad without always being recognized. https://t.co/QgXLH56KH4
— Florida Grand (@florida_grand) April 27, 2023
The media, both entertainment and political, deserves every ounce of derision that comes their way. They couldn’t possibly be more dishonest and “journalism” is broken beyond repair.
