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After vowing to give back, Dwyane Wade loses cousin to gun violence

Before Dwyane Wade has even played his first game as a Chicago Bull, he has been touched by the city’s violence.

His cousin was shot in the head and killed Friday while pushing her baby in a stroller on the South Side. It was yet another of those senseless shootings that we have become accustomed to in Chicago. And again, the violence has drained us of emotion.

Nykea Aldridge, 32, was not the intended victim. She was walking down the street after registering her children at school when police say two men opened fire on another man, unintentionally striking Aldridge. Her baby was not injured.

Like many relatives of the people who have died on our streets, Wade had little to say when he heard the news, except for a post on Twitter.

“My cousin was killed today in Chicago. Another act of senseless gun violence. 4 kids lost their mom for NO REASON. Unreal. #EnoughIsEnough,” he tweeted.

But it was something Wade said weeks ago during a news conference where he was introduced as a new member of the Bulls that caught my attention.

Wade talked about the code that he lives by: “To whom much is given, much is required.”

It is a variation of a Bible verse, one that most of us have heard at one time or another, perhaps without giving it much thought.

As someone who has received a lot, Wade said, he is required help the next generation. It is refreshing to hear those words coming from a basketball superstar.

There aren’t many people Chicago’s troubled young men will listen to. But there is a chance they would listen to him.

Of course, Wade isn’t obligated to give his time or resources to the community where he grew up. No one would think less of him, or turn down a chance to see him play if he chose to do nothing. But wouldn’t it be something if he did?

In our neighborhoods, basketball can be the bridge between life and death.

It encourages young men to put down their guns and challenge each other on the basketball court. It gives them another option for releasing the anger and frustration that so often lead to violence.

Next month, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Catholic Church in the Gresham neighborhood, will host the annual Chicago Peace League Basketball Tournament.

For five years, this popular hoops tournament has brought rival gangs together as teammates. The premise seems simple enough: It’s hard to look at a teammate as an enemy. Once you have supported each other on the basketball court, it hard to then point a gun in that man’s face.

This year’s tournament Sept. 17 at St. Sabina’s gymnasium will draw a wide range of professional athletes. Isiah Thomas, a Chicago native who played for the Detroit Pistons, will be there. So will former Chicago Bull Joakim Noah. Chicagoan Jabari Parker, a member of the Milwaukee Bucks, also is scheduled to appear along with other sports celebrities.

Right now, the tournament is held in only one neighborhood. Can you imagine the impact if it were to spread throughout the city?

Ending the city’s violence problem isn’t as easy as outsiders might think. It can’t be solved in a week, regardless of what politicians might say. It will require a collaborative effort among residents, public officials, organizations and businesses stretched over the long term.

I don’t know what Wade had in mind when he said that much is required of him. But in these desperate times, we will take whatever he has to give.

But like police officers, basketball players can’t solve Chicago’s problems on their own. We can’t just sit back and turn all of the responsibility over to them.

We have a stake in making sure that a mother can walk down the street pushing a baby stroller and make it safely to her destination.

Because for all of us who have been given much, much is required.

dglanton@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @dahleeng