Jake Arrieta and Dwyane Wade Sport Birthday Suits for ESPN

Two professional athletes with local ties are giving new meaning to the word "buff" next month by stripping down beyond their skivvies to celebrate the human body

Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta and Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade — and Oak Lawn native — are among those who bared it all for ESPN's upcoming Body 2016 issue set to hit newsstands on July 8. While he might exude confidence on the basketball court, Wade recently divulged some serious insecurities about shedding that recognizable Heat uniform.

"To me, doing the Body Issue is bigger than looking at an athlete's body" the three-time NBA champ said, in an ESPN report. "It's more about the story we are telling of overcoming my fear of doing this. I had a fear of being naked in front of others and a fear of being judged. So to me, overcoming that is the biggest thing."

Wade reportedly nixed the naked shoot for seven years before agreeing to pose. Arrieta, on the other hand, didn't think twice about the full Monty shot.

"If my wife gave the OK, as she did, I knew I was going to be into it," he said, in a video interview. " ... It was an easy decision."

Arrieta's photo shoot included a fully built pitcher's mound on which he threw a light bullpen session. Wade's involved a shoot-around and palming an all-black basketball in a deep squat.

Wade says he hopes the bold birthday suit move will inspire others to be true to themselves.

"It's bigger than me showing my body off," he said, according to ESPN. That's not as important to me as telling a story of overcoming a fear. It hopefully gives someone confidence to really be their authentic self."

Accompanying Jake Arrieta photo courtesy of Flickr.