Dwayne Wade is without a doubt the greatest player in Miami Heat history. However, he believes if not for injuries he would have been in the GOAT discussion with Michael Jordan.
In the 21st century, there have been few players better than Heat legend Dwayne Wade. The 13-time All-Star was the perfect example of a franchise player. He grew into not just an elite player but a leader that was willing to be unselfish. He never got himself into trouble off the court, and his work ethic was second to none.
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He is one of the 10 best players of this century despite injuries hindering his greatness often during the prime of his career. That fact is something that seems to bother the 42-year-old to this day. During, an appearance this week on the “7 PM in Brooklyn” podcast — co-hosted by Carmelo Anthony — Wade suggested injuries hindered him from being as great as Michael Jordan.
- Dwayne Wade stats (Career): 22.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 5.4 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.8 BPG
“They don’t understand my game. You don’t know what I did. I did so many things and played so many different roles,” Wade said. “That’s one of the reasons why I’m not the greatest shooter of all time, but I was great at so many different things. Then I learned how to be great at being a role player. I learned how to be great at all these things so nobody knows how to break down my game.
“So they look over it and go to one or two things but I did so many things. Before injuries, I’m like, ‘MJ, I’m coming for you.’ That’s my mentality. I thought I was coming for MJ and I’m going to be the greatest because I figured it out very early in my career.”
Wade does make an interesting point. And one has to wonder how many records the three-time NBA champion could have broken if he had been on the court more often. Nevertheless, he is still the GOAT of one of the most respected franchises in the league, the Miami Heat.
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