This week, New Times publishes "Dwyane's Disaster," a cover story about Dwyane Wade's catastrophic partnership with Richard von Houtman, a British baron with a sordid past. Von Houtman has been making wild allegations about the Heat superstar's personal life since their business relationship dissolved.
Two weeks after Wade responded by filing a libel lawsuit in Miami-Dade County, I sat down with him at the Overtown Youth Center, where he and Alonzo Mourning were promoting the annual charity event Summer Groove. After getting no response from his lawyer to questions about von Houtman, I decided to see what the man himself had to say. Our in-house videographer extraordinaire Jacob Katel accompanied me.
The video begins with Wade gamely responding to a nonspecific question about fame's hurtful effect on his previously sparkling image. Then I utter the name "Richard von Houtman," and it devolves from there. My favorite part is Alonzo Mourning standing by waiting to be interviewed, realizing what's going on, and then disappearing like Batman from a rooftop.
