Every former and current player that attended the NBA’s top 75 ceremony at Rocket Mortgage Arena had a great time. Giannis Antetokounmpo met the man that made him play basketball, Allen Iverson, while Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman reunited, as well as many other things we could see last Feb. 20.
Even though we never got to see an interaction between Michael Jordan and Dwyane Wade, the Miami Heat legend did recall that His Airness was all love when they ran into each other. They have a long history together, dating back from Wade’s rookie season when MJ went to a club to meet him.
After almost 20 years, nothing has changed for Wade and Jordan. In Tuesday’s edition of NBA on TNT, the 3x NBA champion talked about his interaction with Jordan and how he reacted to be included in the top 75 NBA players of all time, just like his idol (6:48).
“There was a moment when Jordan came in, and that’s the reason I played basketball. We’re in a hallway, the guards, we’re talking before we go out, and Mike creeps in. And Mike gave me some love, and every time, I don’t care. I was with the Jordan Brand, I had some moments, this is Mike. So Mike came in and gave me love, then he went right to the old dog, he went right to Magic, the clip that went viral, and if you see my face, that was the moment that I realized I was in basketball heaven. Like, my basketball lifespan had ended and I ended up in basketball heaven. To just be there, to be able to experience — Hall of Fame is great, jersey retirement is great. For me, as a kid, I didn’t have my family there. I didn’t want my family there. That was individually my moment. As a young kid growing up, wanted to be one of the greatest to play the game, and I got the chance to put on that jacket and be next to my favorite player, the greatest to ever play.”
Wade is considered the 3rd greatest shooting guard ever, only behind MJ and Kobe Bryant. This moment surely meant the world to him. He looked very excited while recalling that exchange, explaining what it meant for him to fulfill his childhood dream and be surrounded by incredible players, including the one he looked up to growing up.
