The NBA has been around for a long time, and throughout its rich history, there have been players who have earned legendary status for various reasons. Each year, the NBA Draft takes place, and it is one of the best times to be a fan of basketball. Fans get to witness their favorite upcoming ballers drafted into the NBA.
Not every draft class is equally talented, and some of them are simply a notch above the rest. The 2003 NBA draft class is the perfect example of it. It was headlined by the likes of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade.
Each of the above-mentioned players will one day be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame for their contributions to the league during their playing days. While most people expected James, Melo, and Bosh to be great, there were a few doubts about D-Wade.
Of course, he was expected to be a decent player, but not many thought that he would be on the same level as the other three. Despite that, Wade ended up being the first player to lead his team to the NBA Championship as the outright leader of his draft class.
While Darko Milicic, the second overall pick in the NBA Draft, was the first player to win the NBA title, he was one of the biggest draft busts in the history of the league.
Anyway, coming back to D-Wade, he recently revealed in an interview why winning an NBA Championship before LBJ, Melo, and Bosh meant a lot to him.
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“I wanted to strike first. I wasn’t a big name in the class like those guys, so I needed something to separate myself or something that would put me on their level and winning a championship at 24 was that to me.”
It feels like Wade really doubted his talent when he came into the league. After striking first, he ended up winning two more rings in his career.
Speaking of which, Wade also revealed in the interview that he never truly believed that he would get a chance to share the court with LeBron James. The two superstars joined forces in 2010 when LeBron decided to bring his talents to South Beach.
Alongside James, Chris Bosh also decided to join the team and give birth to arguably the most hated Big 3 of all time. Regardless, that decision helped the three players in winning two NBA titles.
