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Make Connections Many young sports fans have a favorite team or player. For Dwyane, it was Mi- chael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls. Michael Jordan is a record-breaking basketball player who played while Dwyane was growing up. Because Michael played for the Chicago team, Dwyane saw Michael Jordan as his idol. He hoped to be just as talented and skilled as Michael one day. When Dwyane practiced playing basketball with his friends, he would try to use some of the same moves Michael Jordan did on the court.

By the time Dwyane moved in with his father, his father had remarried another woman. Dwyane now had a stepmother and a few new stepsiblings. Dwyane’s father was very strict compared to Jolinda. He gave Dwyane Jr. and the rest of his children the direction they needed in life. “My father was militant . He kept us out of a lot of trouble because we respected his ‘no’s’ and ‘don’ts’,” Dwyane said. Discipline wasn’t the only thing Dwy- ane’s father gave him, though. Dwyane Sr. also encouraged his children to play sports. If it weren’t for his father’s influence, Dwyane might not have discovered his love for basketball. A year after Dwyane arrived at his father’s house, the whole family moved to Robbins, Illinois. Robbins is a town on the south side of Chicago. It wasn’t the best neighborhood, but it was a huge step up from where Dwyane had been living with his mother. Moving to Robbins gave the family more room to play outside. The young Dwyane liked to play

Research Project The NBA Finals are held every year between the two NBA teams that do the best during the basketball season. In 2013, the Miami Heat won the championship, with Dwyane Wade’s help. Look up some of the past winners of the NBA Finals on the Internet. Have the Miami Heat won any other Finals recently? Notice that some teams tend to win several years in a row. Why do you think this is?

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