Former Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade believed that he would be in the GOAT conversation had he not retired from the NBA.
Speaking to Shannon Sharpe on Club Shay Shay, Wade answered what his career would have been like had he played without the injuries he sustained.
“You doing your G.O.A.T. conversation with me,” Wade said. “Like I said, we talking about ifs. You take away the injuries away, I’m still playing basketball right now if I want to, right? Because it’s the injuries and everything and the mental, right? But if I’m healthy enough — you gotta understand something about my game, in multiple ways, right? I played the game multiple ways, so even right now, as I got older, I had another game that still was effective as an old player.
“So in my mind, you m********* right. I was one of them dudes. You couldn’t tell me in ’06, ’07, ’08 that I wasn’t going on to where I wanted to go, right? Why not? The league is not hard for me. I’m averaging 30 a game in the NBA.”
[Starts 1:08:03 onwards]
Wade was the No. 5 overall pick from the 2003 NBA Draft and spent 16 years in the league. 13 of them were with the Heat, and he ended his decorated career as a three-time NBA champion and was even the MVP of the 2006 NBA Finals.
His stellar career saw him enshrined in the Hall of Fame earlier this year, and he even made the NBA 75th Anniversary team. Clearly, he is one of the more successful and greatest players to have played in the league, and while he does seem confident in his abilities, his GOAT conversation will surely be a debate that’s going on the floor.
Dwyane Wade Hated Being Compared To Kobe Bryant
In the same podcast, the Heat star revealed that he hated being compared to the late Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant.
“I didn’t like (the comparisons to Kobe). No. I don’t want that. I didn’t want that smoke. Kobe had 3 rings, he’s 24 years old. He got 3 rings. I played the way I played because I watched Jordan, Iverson, and Kobe. Don’t put me there yet, I’m 2 years in the league… I’m a kid like I still secretly want Kobe’s autograph at this time. I don’t even want to push up on him too much, I don’t know.”
“And so, as I was trying to find my footing in the league, they’re now pinning me with one of my favorite players, a guy that I only played once the year before. This is inner beef that I don’t even know that’s there, that I didn’t cause, that the media has caused… ‘Oh, y’all think he next? I’m going to show you’. That’s Kobe”.
Despite the reservation he had on the comparison, Wade’s skill and game can be gauged, given how he fared when he played during the same time as Kobe. He ended his career as one of the league’s superstars and even had Kobe’s respect. Maybe that’s proof enough.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
