Sports fans always like to compare teams or players, regardless of the eras they’ve played in. One of the favorite questions in the NBA world is who’s the greatest basketball player of all time, LeBron James or Michael Jordan.
Of course, some fans may throw other names in the mix, including Kobe Bryant, Bill Russell, Stephen Curry or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Dwyane Wade, meanwhile, believes he could have also been in this conversation.
According to the Miami Heat legend, if it weren’t for injuries, he would have made a strong case to debate the GOAT status. In an interview with Shannon Sharpe, the three-time NBA champ explained his take.
Dwyane Wade says he’d be in GOAT debate if it weren’t for injuries
“You doing your G.O.A.T. conversation with me,” Wade said, via Heat Nation. “… Like I said, we talking about ifs. You take away the injuries away, I’m still playing basketball right now if I want to, right? Because it’s the injuries and everything and the mental, right? But if I’m healthy enough — you gotta understand something about my game, multiple ways, right? I played the game multiple ways, so even right now, as I got older, I had another game that still was effective as an old player.
“So in my mind, you’re right. I was one of them dudes. You couldn’t tell me in ’06, ’07, ’08 that I wasn’t going on to where I wanted to go, right? Why not? The league is not hard for me. I’m averaging 30 a game in the NBA.“
Wade sustained three knee injuries throughout his career, one of them in college and the other two in the NBA, as well as shoulder and elbow injuries. However, what matters is that he was still able to succeed and get the recognition he deserves from the league.
D-Wade got to retire as a Heat, where he has his iconic No. 3 hanging on the rafters. He was also selected in the NBA 75th anniversary team and in August will be inducted to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. In his prime, Wade was definitely one of the best players the league has ever seen.
