“I needed Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James”: When Dwyane Wade Gave Total Credit of Making 75th Anniversary Team to Other Stars & All His Coaches
Dwyane Wade was one of the most electrifying players to ever grace the hardwood. The 6ft 4’ shooting guard was kind of a mix of Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant who never attained stardom in the magnitude that both those guards did.
Although he is one of the NBA’s greatest 75 players of all time, if he got into situations as most other superstars did, he would have been in the conversation to be in the top 15-20 players on most people’s lists.
It was his humble nature that probably led him to be a good teammate to Shaquille O’Neal and later LeBron James and Chris Bosh and win championships by being the best help both those legendary superstars had playing over almost two decades in multiple teams.
And to this day, we can see what made him the way he was, different from almost every other basketball player of his caliber by what he said when he got into the 75th-anniversary team.
Also read: Shaquille O’Neal Once Used the Same Strategy He Employed on Kobe Bryant to Make Dwyane Wade Great
When Dwyane Wade solely credited everyone involved in his career for his greatness
It was never a doubt in anyone’s mind that the man who was drafted in 03 and led his side to the NBA championship 3 years later would go down in NBA history books when he calls it a day.
But having either played with big-name superstars by his side for most of his career or being severely injured when he could have been the sole leader, didn’t allow him to be that obvious choice.
And so, even for him, it was a humbling experience to get his name written alongside the best of the game to ever do it. In fact, when he got to know that, he’ll be among the 75-best players of all time in 2021, the ever-so-grounded Wade gave every bit of credit to his coaches and then Shaq and LeBron on the sets of TNT.
“I needed a Shaq, I needed LeBron. You don’t do this alone, it’s a team game. So, I am on this list, but I am on this list only because I’ve been around greatness, and greatness has lifted me up,” Wade said after thanking all his coaches from high school to University and all the coaches he played under in his 16-years in the league.
Would Wade even be in the Hall of Fame even if he didn’t play with Shaq or LeBron?
He certainly would be. In fact, D-Wade might have been a bigger superstar if he hadn’t played with those two juggernauts, or if he didn’t take too much out of himself every time he set foot on the hardwood.
His performance while O’Neal was still his teammate after winning the 2006 Championship was a testament to his capabilities on both sides of the ball. In 2008, the Flash finished 3rd in both MVP and DPOY rankings.
If Wade didn’t throw everything in, each night, to win every game he played in and preserve his body the way LeBron does, he would have had as long and probably as decorated career as him.
About the author
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