While there are many perks to being a top-tier pro athlete — from fame, money, and rubbing shoulders with the rich and the famous — there is also a brutal downside. Playing all those years at the highest level, pushing the physical limits, takes a savage toll on the body. And no one knows this better than Dwyane Wade, one of the greatest shooting guards in NBA history.
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While Wade cherishes the memories of his 16-year Hall of Fame career, he’s also glad that retirement put an end to the physical pain he was dealing with. Playing through physical distress became second nature to him. And Wade’s tryst with injuries began during his college years at Marquette. He had to undergo surgery in 2002 to recover from a meniscus tear on his left knee.
The Miami legend went under the knife on his shoulder and the same knee in 2007. Wade underwent another knee surgery in 2012 as well, which hampered him on the court as he struggled with recurring knee issues and pain. During an interview with REVOLVE last October, when he was asked, “What don’t you miss about being a professional basketball player?”, all those memories came flooding back.
“They always say, ‘What do you miss’? No one says, ‘What don’t you miss’? I do not miss the way my body felt. It was days when I would get out of bed, just pain, from the toe all the way up to the mental,” the three-time NBA Champion said, adding that there were days when he didn’t know how he mustered up the strength to play back-to-back games.
“You go through surgeries, you go through concussions, you go through a lot of physical and mental pain. So, I do not, do not, wanna ever feel that again,” he stated.
The Hall of Famer believes that his career would’ve been on another level if it weren’t for the surgeries. During a 2023 conversation with Shannon Sharpe on Club Shay Shay, he was asked, “What’s D-Wade’s numbers?” if the injuries had never happened.
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Wade answered, “You doing your GOAT conversation with me.” The Miami legend, who was 41 at the time, added that if one takes away the injuries, he would probably still be playing in the league.
His claim didn’t come off as an exaggeration because even though age would have slowed him down a bit, he still could’ve played a few more years after 2019.
