The best feeling for an aspiring basketball player is hearing their name called at the NBA Draft. Once the high of fulfilling their dream fades, the realization that they are about to be thrown into the fire hits. Heat legend Dwyane Wade experienced this phenomenon once he prepared to face off against Kobe Bryant for the first time.
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High expectations awaited Wade before the start of his rookie season. The Heat drafted the 6-foot-4 guard with the fifth pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. They had hopes that he would eventually become one of the best shooting guards in the league. There was still a significant gap separating him from the league’s best.
The best shooting guard in question was Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. At the time, Bryant had helped lead LA to their third consecutive NBA championship. ‘The Black Mamba’ was the measuring stick for Wade to where he wanted to be someday.
Ahead of his first game against Kobe, Wade couldn’t deny his fear as he geared up to face the man who stood at the peak of his position. In Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant by Roland Lazenby, Wade recalled the experience in detail.
“I was scared as shit,” Wade admitted. “But I’ll always remember one play: I got a steal on Kobe; I ripped Kobe Bryant. I was so excited to do that. That was a real highlight for me.”
The matchup between the two came only 10 games into Wade’s rookie season. The Lakers went on to win in dominating fashion by a score of 99-77. However, Wade remembers the game for locking up Bryant on a singular possession.
Despite walking away with a loss, it set the tone for many competitive matchups between the two in the coming years. Wade confessed, “I just had a great time competing against him. We had a long period of time where we had some classic battles.”
Wade and Bryant went at it in the All-Star game
And Wade was right. Not many fought Bryant as hard as DWade. Their battles were truly incredible, even if they faced each other in the All-Star game.
The two would constantly match up with each other since they always played in opposing conferences. However, the light-heartedness of the game didn’t eliminate the competitive fire between them.
In the 2012 All-Star Game, Bryant came out with a high level of intensity. He refused to let Wade become comfortable, which riled up the Heat star. Bryant blew by Wade, which led to the Heat star grabbing him from behind and accidentally breaking his nose.
“I didn’t try to break nobody’s nose, but I did try to foul him. I was like, I let him go, then hit him,” Wade shared.
Most people would have taken exception to the hard foul. Bryant, on the other hand, embraced the competitiveness. One of the many examples of Kobe’s unwavering ‘Mamba Mentality.’
