Dwyane Wade Says His Self-Care Game Doesn’t Rival Wife Gabrielle Union’s Routine: Can’t ‘Come Close’ (Exclusive)

Dwyane Wade is mastering the self-care game.

The retired NBA star, 43, opened up about his increased attention on his personal wellness and beauty routines amid retirement while speaking with PEOPLE exclusively about being the face and global ambassador of Intuition by Aramis.

Putting himself first wasn’t always the case for Wade, who built his legacy as a star shooting and point guard in the NBA over the course of his 16-season career after being selected fifth overall in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat.

“When I played basketball, it was all about winning. It was all about success,” he tells PEOPLE exclusively when thinking back on his illustrious career, during which he spent the majority of his time on the Heat with quick Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers stints.

Now, the husband to wife Gabrielle Union and father to five kids — Dahveon, 21, Zaire, 23, Zaya, 18, Xavier, 11, and Kaavia, 6 — finds success in “substance” outside of basketball, like his newest collaboration the scent space.

“It’s been a world that I’ve tried to be in for a very long time… I’ve always prided myself on fragrance, how I smell and what I use to enhance even my own natural scent,” says Wade of why he’s “really gracious” to be the face and ambassador of Intuition by Aramis.

“Intuition is everything that you feel. That’s your gut… trusting your instincts,” he explains. “That’s what I’ve always given myself. The name represented who I am. I felt it was the perfect relationship.”

Wade also explained how his “inner confidence” comes forth through fragrance, sharing, “I feel like it brings out that little extra little swag in myself.”

But personal scent is just one crucial element on the newfound lengthy list of beauty and wellness elements prioritized by Wade, a big self-care guy.

Intuition by Aramis, in fact, is infused with notes of lavender favored by the retired athlete, who turns to that scent in his other go-to practices to find relaxtion and improve his overall well-being.

“Anytime I get a massage, anytime I’m doing anything with oils, it’s lavender,” he says. “That’s a part of Intuition that I feel really brings in that softness, that freshness, that ability to be able to take that inhale, which we love to do.”

Wade’s self-care has taken shape “so much more” since hanging up his jersey in 2019. It’s due in part to the candid chats he’s had between both men and women of late.

“I’m a part of that conversation when we talk about all the wellness in the world, like mental wellness and spiritual wellness… We’re in a time now where we’re having these conversations a lot more,” he tells PEOPLE, adding, “It allows for us to be a little bit more confident.”

“I always feel like this: Women, y’all had the playbook the whole time. We should have been on the same book that you guys have been on when it comes about taking care of yourself,” he says with a laugh.

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Today, Wade’s developed a multi-step wellness and beauty routine that spans a variety of regimens (which he’s previously said includes therapy, yoga, workouts, massages, skincare, manicures and pedicures, among other practices).

“You always have to worry about and take care of yourself first,” he stresses, noting that it hasn’t always been that way historically for men, who’d think, ‘Hey, I’m the man. I got to take care of everyone else’,” he adds.

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“Sometimes, you’d forget yourself in that process,” continues Wade. “I believe that now it’s become an extension of who I am, and I feel that how I carry myself… So the conversation is allowed to be had a little bit more.”

But as for who has a longer self-care routine, Wade or Union?

“It would definitely be my wife,” the former basketball player reveals. “100%. I’m not going to even come close to that.”