With the 2021–22 NBA season nearing a conclusion, the timeless debate about which player is the “greatest of all time” has started to make it way into the public forum once again.
The latest to weigh in on the league’s “GOAT” is former Heat great Dwyane Wade, who explained that his pick remains his childhood icon: Michael Jordan.
“I never saw Bill Russell play. I never say Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] play. Obviously they are someone else’s GOATs. But my GOAT, I grew up in Chicago, so Jordan is mine,” Wade said on Bleacher Report’s “Next 25” presented by Coinbase.
Wade went onto explain that he understands why each generation of basketball players and fans gravitates to different GOATs. While he grew up watching Jordan dominate the league with the Bulls, the 40-year-old recognizes that the younger generation feels that same way about LeBron James.
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“I also understand that the generation that’s here now, LeBron James is their GOAT,” Wade said. “Before LeBron, it was Kobe Bryant. It just becomes who you grow up watching , who you see and envision and say ’Oh I want to be that person.’”
Although Wade’s allegiance to the city of Chicago and its basketball franchise makes Jordan a logical pick, his relationship to LeBron could’ve complicated matters. The two 2003 draft picks teamed up on the Heat from 2010 to ’14 and won two championships together.
Despite his time tearing through the Eastern Conference with James, Wade is still sticking by Jordan, at least for now. Perhaps his answer might change by the time LeBron finishes out his career.
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