“Michael Jordan Messed Everybody Timing Up!”: 3x NBA Champion Dwyane Wade Defended Damian Lillard, Allen Iverson From ‘No Ring’ Narrative

Every year, 450 of the best players in the world come together and give nine months of their year for one mission: to pick the Larry O’Brien trophy. There are players who have as many as 11 championships. On the other hand, most of the players go their entire career without lifting the prestigious trophy even once. Dwyane Wade sat down with Shannon Sharpe on Club Shay Shay, where the two discussed the same. Having won 3 Championships himself, Wade talked about how people judge players like Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, and Damian Lillard‘s All-Time greatness over not winning a championship.

Over the course of his 16-year career, Dwyane Wade made the NBA Finals 5 times, out of which he won 3 championships. The first came along in 2006, along with Shaquille O’Neal, when they beat the Dallas Mavericks in the Finals. The other two came in 2012 and 2013, as LeBron James and the Heat beat the Thunder and the Spurs. With three titles under his belt, Wade talked about the factors that go into winning the ultimate prize.

Dwyane Wade mentions why ‘no rings’ should not be held against Dame, Iverson

One of the biggest points whenever an All-Time discussion comes up in the NBA is always the number of championships. While Championships are the ultimate goal for any player and team, one has to realize it’s not an individual feat to win a ring. Wade talked about the same with Shannon Sharpe.

“It makes no sense… At different times, we have opportunities because of our talent and our team. When the time is there for you, you just have to strike. That doesn’t happen just because you’re a great player. The organization gotta do their part, you gotta put the right team around you, you gotta put the talent around you… Everybody can’t win a ring! You have a different champion every year!”

Wade then went on to talk about how circumstances play a huge part.

“There are players way greater than me and they won’t walk away with three rings. That doesn’t mean I’m better than them cause I have three rings or because another player has one or two… You don’t bring championships off one person, cause it’s not golf, it’s not tennis or so forth… It’s timing. Michael Jordan came in and messed everybody timing up. LeBron James’ been in the Finals 10 to 12 years!”

Wade’s right. It’s not just one person who can take you to a championship. It takes a whole village and on top of that, some luck.

Championships do count in All-Time Rankings

Dwyane Wade made a solid argument about championships and a player’s all-time greatness. However, it does not change the fact that a player’s All-Time rankings are often determined by the number of championships they have. One of the best examples of the same is Charles Barkley. He is one of the players on the NBA 75 team.

Chuck played 16 years in the NBA, and is arguably one of the best power forwards we’ve seen. However, his name never comes up in the Top-10 or Top-20 list. Why is that? He only had one trip to the NBA Finals where Michael Jordan shut down his Suns, and left him ringless. There are a lot more cases like these. Even though what one may say about rings and all-time greatness, it surely affects their rankings and the way the future generations will remember them.