The Miami Heat built a superteam when they added LeBron James to a roster already featuring Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, a move that led to multiple championships. However, Wade recently revealed the true motivation behind their alliance: stopping Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers.
Speaking on the Underground Lounge podcast, Wade admitted that watching Bryant win back-to-back NBA titles was the driving force behind his and LeBron’s decision to team up. He emphasized that they needed each other to avoid being overshadowed by Kobe’s dominance.
“Nah, that wasn’t even the mentality [of needing one more superstar]. I think we understood. When Pau Gasol went to the Lakers, it changed everything… They just gave him to Kobe. Kobe goes and gets two championships back-to-back. How are we going to compete with that? We gotta do our thing. Whatever our thing is, as everyone knows what it came to be.”
Wade then recalled his frustration watching the Lakers clinch their second straight NBA title in 2010. “I remember when Kobe went down… There’s a video from when they win the second one—the ball rolls all the way into the camera. Kobe runs down, grabs it, one hand in the air, smiling into the camera. I turned my f**king TV off right then. I was pissed.”
Wade’s mindset at the time
Wade was determined to keep competing for championships and knew he needed more help. Realizing how competitive the league had become, he sought the perfect move to position himself for sustained success.
“Now, Kobe has five championships. I got one. Bron ain’t got none. He is leaving us in the past. So I’m sitting there like, ‘Nah, this summer gotta be different.’ I needed some talent. Because I was just playing with less-than-average talent. The conversation happened, and it changed everything when I got the call from Bron.”
Wade even considered an alternative destination before ultimately deciding on Miami. “In my mind, I was like, ‘Alright, I’m going to go play with one more superstar. Or I’m going to Chicago and fit in with Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, and [Joakim] Noah’… I needed to compete for championships. I want to win something.”
How it all played out
Just months after Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to their second consecutive NBA championship in 2010, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh formed a historic Big Three in Miami. The decision sent shockwaves through the league and marked a defining moment in NBA history, as LeBron went from beloved hometown hero in Cleveland to the NBA’s biggest villain.
Despite their goal of challenging the Lakers on the league’s biggest stage, a LeBron-Kobe Finals matchup never materialized. In 2011, the Miami Heat reached the NBA Finals but faced the Dallas Mavericks, who had eliminated the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.
In the end, Wade and LeBron achieved their championship aspirations together—but they never got the chance to take down Kobe on basketball’s biggest stage.