Dwyane Wade says a photo of his childhood home in his new memoir is 'powerful' because of the memories it sparks

• Dwyane Wade has a new photo memoir about his life.
• Wade said the most powerful photo in the book is one of his childhood home in South Side Chicago.

In Dwyane Wade's new photo memoir, "Dwyane," no photo strikes the former NBA star as much as a picture of his childhood home.

Located at 59th Street and Prairie Ave. in the South Side of Chicago, Wade told Insider that the photo is "powerful" to him for the memories it brings back.

"That photo is powerful to me because I remember the conversations that was going on in the house," Wade said. "I remember the doubt that was in my [head], you know what I mean? Like, I remember all these things. I remember not being sure about life. I remember having a dream to buy my mom a house, get my family out of the ghetto. You know, one day, hopefully play basketball. Like I had all these dreams in the house."

The photo shows the grey exterior of the multi-family home on an otherwise nondescript street.

Wade shared similar feelings in the book.

"If I close my eyes, I can still see the cracks in the concrete," Wade wrote. "I can still feel the rust on the gates. And I can still hear the people outside. I'm a long way away from 5901 S. Prairie in Chicago. But I can never leave it."

Wade wrote that it could be difficult living in the South Side growing up. Wade's parents divorced shortly after he was born. Wade's mother battled addiction and occasionally left home for long stretches of time.

In an episode of the series "Flash3ack" Wade described hearing gun shots often and seeing violence and thinking little of it, as it was simply the only environment he knew.

Wade eventually moved in with his father, which he has said helped turn his childhood around.

"I got an opportunity to be a kid," Wade told Oprah in 2013. "If I would have stayed [with his mother] ... I would have been next in line to sell drugs, to join the gang."

"Once I look at this book and I look at that photo, I just think about, I know there's other kids out there that have the same dreams," Wade told Insider. "That has the same aspirations and goals that I had. And I look at that picture as continued responsibility to do everything that young Dwyane said while he was in that role."