To say it's been a challenging year for Dwyane Wade is gross understatement. 2012 saw the Miami Heat guard overcome injury and adversity in winning an NBA title. However, the most personal and poignant moment came when Wade won custody of his two sons. That could make 2012 the most significant year of his life, says Wade.
"This year is shaping up overall to be a very special one. Obviously having my boys at home is the most important thing to me," Wade said.
In his new book, "A Father First: How My Life Became Bigger Than Basketball," Wade writes about his tough childhood growing up in one of Chicago's roughest neighborhoods, and of the bitter custody battle for his two sons with his ex-wife Siovaughn Wade.
After a long process of deciding custody, and Wade won sole custody of his sons Zaire, 10, and Zion, five. The basketball star also has custody of his nephew.
"Given my history and the examples set for me, my sense of responsibility as a parent and spouse was already well developed," Wade writes in one introspective passage of the book.
For Wade, breaking the cycle of "babies having babies" -- one that he says ran in his family and his community -- was at first a priority and then a challenge to be the best full-time dad he can be and to get out the word to other men about how they can do it too.
"I want my boys to be good men, obviously. I want them to, whenever they are in a relationship, to be very respectful of the person that they're with -- treat her like a queen," said Wade in an interview with The Huffington Post. "I want them to be patient and just wait. Don't rush into anything like their daddy did."
Despite the nastiness between him and his ex-wife, Dwyane told "The View" that he makes sure their kids get some time with her.
"Yes, yes. They see their mother," Wade said. "They granted me custody because-one of the reasons-was because they felt that I could make sure that the relationship worked between both parents. I could facilitate that relationship."
"I just wanted to tell, in my own words, why I think being a father first is the most important thing to me," Wade said. "It goes back to my childhood, and the way things did or didn't go. I just thought for the first time I would share those personal experiences, and hopefully help someone look at things in a different way. Not saying I have the perfect way of parenting, but maybe look at things in a different way.
"First of all, you never think you could love somebody this much. Every day you wake up with this person on your mind, and every day before you go to sleep they're the last thing on your mind. Living in Miami, and playing in the NBA, it's a fast life. Everything moves fast, and my kids slow things down. Becoming a dad matured me. I was already a mature kid, but it matured me a little faster as an adult - to be ready for the responsibilities of being a father."
Wade and his ex originally had joint custody of the kids, but he claims that she eventually began keeping their sons from him.
"If I can't be that father, I'm not whole," Wade explained. "It just came to a point where I wasn't able to see them. I wasn't able to talk to them the way I wanted to. And I said, 'The only way that I can be a father first is by making sure that I go for custody of them.'"
Wade also shared how his mother, who once battled a heroin addiction, sent him to live with his father because he needed to be around other men as he grew up.
Wade said he sometimes worries his boys have it too easy.
"Yes, I do. And that's one thing you've got to try to figure out. You know, I always talk about trying to figure out--separating giving kids what they need and what they want," Wade said.