Dwyane Wade believes he could have taken Michael Jordan’s throne if his injuries didn’t get in the way.
Dwyane Wade reminisced on his career in a recent podcast episode of ‘7PM in Brooklyn’ with Carmelo Anthony. Wade noted that no one can properly assess his game because he was so versatile. He added that prior to his injuries, he felt that he was going to be the greatest player of all time, surpassing Michael Jordan.
“They don’t understand my game. You don’t know what I did. I did so many different things, I played so many different roles. That’s one of the reasons why I’m not the greatest shooter of all time (for example) but I was great at so many different things.”
“Melo talked about it, then I learned how to be great at being a role player… I learned how to be great at all these things and no one knows how to really break down my game. They look over it and go to one or two things, but I did so many things.”
Dwyane Wade says he feels like he was coming for Michael Jordan’s throne if injuries hadn’t held him back 👀
(🎥 @7PMinBrooklyn / h/t @WheelerJaylen )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 19, 2024
“When I had it, I had it. I thought I was going to be, before the injuries, I’m like ‘MJ, I’m coming for you’. That was my mentality. I thought I was coming for MJ, I thought I’m going to be the greatest. Because I figured it out very early in the league, and in my second year, I knew.”
Some might think Wade is being over-confident. But people don’t realize just how good Wade was when he entered the NBA. He rose quickly to NBA superstardom in his first few years in the league and even won an NBA championship and Finals MVP by the age of 24, something his friends LeBron James and Chris Bosh had to wait years to do.
It would be interesting to know whether Wade ever mentioned this to Michael Jordan. In the same podcast, Wade told a story of Jordan showing up to the NBA’s 75th anniversary event and talking trash to everyone. Considering the energy MJ was on that night, bringing this up wouldn’t have been a good idea for Wade.
Dwyane Wade Was One Of The Greatest Shooting Guards Ever
Dwyane Wade had an incredible NBA career but also struggled with several different injuries, specifically, a knee injury that bothered him for much of his career. He actually sustained the injury in college while playing for Marquette. He opted to go for knee surgery to accelerate his recovery, which many believe cost him greatly when he got to the NBA.
Wade, despite the injuries, would go on to have an incredible NBA career. He would win 3 NBA championships, 1 Finals MVP, an NBA scoring title, and made 13 All-Star teams, with 8 All-NBA selections and 3 All-Defensive selections. Wade averaged 22.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 5.4 assists across his career.
Many consider Wade to be the third greatest NBA shooting guard behind Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Perhaps Jordan and Bryant having more championships and individual accolades kept him from being mentioned in the same vein as them. But being behind two of the greatest players in NBA history is no small feet.