Sports fans always like to compare teams or players, regardless of the eras theyāve played in. One of the favorite questions in the NBA world is whoās 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 werenāt 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 heād be in GOAT debate if it werenāt for injuries
āYou doing your G.O.A.T. conversation with me,ā Wade said, via Heat Nation. āā¦ Like I said, we talking about ifs. You take away the injuries away, Iām still playing basketball right now if I want to, right? Because itās the injuries and everything and the mental, right? But if Iām healthy enough ā 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.
āSo in my mind, youāre right. I was one of them dudes. You couldnāt tell me in ā06, ā07, ā08 that I wasnāt going on to where I wanted to go, right? Why not? The league is not hard for me. Iām averaging 30 a game in the NBA.ā
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.
