Dwyane Wade (photo. Mannion)

Before getting into the intense part of training camp with Team USA in preparation for the Beijing Olympics, Dwyane Wade has one major thing left to do in Miami. Starting tomorrow, the Zo’s Summer Groove charity weekend gets underway, a longtime staple of the summer in Miami that’s now a joint effort between D-Wade and Alonzo Mourning. This is Wade’s first year involved as a partner with ‘Zo for the weekend full of events that will benefit the Wade’s World Foundation and Alonzo Mourning Charities. Earlier today I talked to D-Wade while he was hanging out at the Gatorade G2 Lounge, playing Wii and enjoying some downtime.

Dime: For those who might have only heard of Zo’s Summer Groove but don’t know exactly what it entails, give us a quick description of the event.
Dwyane Wade: It’s a whole weekend. Tomorrow is the kickoff day with the golfing event, then Friday is the benefit dinner with Queen Latifah performing her jazz stuff. Saturday is the youth summit where we have a panel of different celebrities, actors and actresses, and we also have a comedy show that Chris Tucker is heading up. Sunday is the block party. That’s open for everyone to come to. The All-Star game is on Sunday, too. We got LeBron James and Chris Paul to come out and play. Basically it’s to raise money for both of our foundations and do something positive in the community.

Dime: What’s the biggest difference between just participating in Zo’s Summer Groove and now being on the planning and execution side?
DW: Time is the biggest thing. It used to be I could show up on Friday for the after-party, then Sunday play in the game and that’s it. Now I’m getting up every day and meeting with sponsors, trying to get people to come down and be involved. You spend hours and have a bunch of meetings making sure everything is going right. Then once it starts you’re going to be at every event. But I’m excited to get out there and see how the people respond.

Dime: How has being close to Alonzo throughout your career affected you as someone who gives back to the community?
DW: It really fast-tracked my beliefs and my wants for my own foundation a lot sooner. Alonzo is one of the best guys to do it, a guy who will go down in history as a humanitarian not only in the Miami area but also in Virginia where he’s from. I have that same vision, trying to do things in Miami and in Chicago. The main goal we both have is to help kids and give them things they don’t have, to go into the low-poverty areas that don’t get as much attention.

Wade on the Wii (Gatorade/Joshua Prezant)

Dime: How have the community and the kids responded in the past?
DW: Oh, they love it. They come out and see it and enjoy it every year. It’s something for everybody — if you’re one years old you can still come to the block party, or if you’re 85 years old you can enjoy the game with your family, relax on the golf course… there’s so many opportunities for everyone to be involved. We really try to get the whole community out here. It’s something I really wanted to do before, but I talked to ‘Zo the year before last and he turned me down (laughs). Last year I cornered him at the dinner and told him I had to be involved.

Dime: What do you think will be the highlight of the weekend?
DW: Man, there’s gonna be so many highlights, I don’t even know. Having Chris Tucker down to host the comedy show, and he don’t even do comedy too much anymore since he’s focused on acting, to have him host the event, he’s gonna be real funny. I’m looking forward to the game on Sunday, getting up and down in front of the Miami fans. I haven’t played in front of them in, what, four months now? Caron Butler will be there, and some of the old-school guys like Tim Hardaway and Sam Cassell.

Dime: Who else on the Heat will be involved in the events this weekend?
DW: Most of my teammates will be down there — Udonis Haslem, Dorell Wright, Shawn Marion. Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley, when they get back from the summer league, they’ll be down there.

Dime: Have you been following Chalmers and Beasley in the summer league?
DW: No question. They’re part of the future of this team. I know Michael had a disappointing game yesterday, statistics-wise, but they’ve been representing themselves great.

Dime: Chalmers stood out in particular in his first two games. How much can a strong summer league showing do for a rookie’s confidence going into training camp?
DW: It’s gonna be big for him. He’s a guy who’s already won a national championship, and he made big plays to win that game. Every good game he plays right now will continue to get him that confidence.

Dime: What do you think of Miami’s roster right now?
DW: We’re gonna continue to beef it up, go out and find the right parts for our team. We’ll keep finding guys who can complement my game, complement Michael Beasley’s game, complement Shawn Marion’s game, Udonis Haslem’s game … Coach Riley has done a great job searching for not just the big names but the right names. I think we’re playoff-bound already with myself coming back and with Shawn.

Dime: Last year was supposed to be Alonzo’s last, but he got hurt before he had a chance to say a proper good-bye. Do you think he can come back this year, and what would he bring to a team like the Heat?
DW: Alonzo’s a guy who’s very strong-minded. He’s already come back from surgeries before and from his kidney ailment. It’s gonna be tough for him to come back at his age, but I know he can help us, no question. He anchors the defense and protects the rim. I hope he comes back, and I know he wants to walk off the court on his own two feet.

Dime: Are you guys going to play a different style now that Erik Spoelstra’s on the bench and Shaq is gone?
DW: Somewhat. We have different players, some guys who are more versatile, who can get up and down. We still have to score in the halfcourt, but we can get out and run more. We’re not gonna turn into the Phoenix Suns, though. Defensively we’ll stay the same.

Dime: Does your role change at all?
DW: I don’t know. It all depends. I’m gonna continue to be a guy who attacks, but as I get older I add something to my game every year for the most part. I want to be that player who gets everybody involved as much as possible.

Dime: How does playing in the Olympics this summer prepare you for the NBA season?
DW: I’ll be playing with the best, and playing against some of the best in the game. With that high level of competition I’ll be a step ahead of other people coming into camp since I played against great competition all summer.

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