“I thought I was going to be before injuries. I’m like MJ, I’m coming for you, I mean, that’s my mentality.” Being a Chicago native, Dwyane Wade was heavily inspired by Michael Jordan. The Bulls legend was also his first spark when he saw the statue outside the United Center. Now the Miami Heat icon has his own statue because of the legacy he has built and is almost on par with the 6x champion in terms of skills, going by Byran Scott’s all-time list.

“I think everybody would say MJ’s the best two-guard that’s ever played the game. And I think most people would say that Kobe’s the second best that’s ever played the game.” On his podcast, Byron Scott was discussing his former teammate James Worthy’s top 5 players. So, the Coach of the Year (2009) placed Dwyane Wade as top 5 combo guards of all time, and even put him joint third alongside another LA Lakers legend, Jerry West aka The Logo.

“And then after that to me, it’s Logo or D-wade. You know, I think Dwade’s up there top five two guards of all time in the NBA.” Even Worthy was in unison with his opinion. “No doubt,” she said via Fast Break.

What would Wade think of the list? He and Kobe Bryant could have been on the same level. “When Kobe retired from basketball, I didn’t have no one to chase anymore… I felt Kobe was the only one that was on the level I was on, as one of the top two guards,” he had opined previously.

That’s not the only time when the 3x NBA Champion has praised the Lakers legend. In fact, in 2022, the Marquette alum shared the shooting guards on whom he built his game.

Unsurprisingly, Dwyane Wade names the two players ahead of him as his inspiration

“Was I the typical athlete growing like body-wise and game-wise? They probably wouldn’t say ‘Hey, he’s gonna be in the NBA,'” Wade spoke to Andre Iguodala & Evan Turner. “But I think as I watch a guy and watch a team and watch players that I just admired so much, that I just wanted to go out there and do everything that they did.”

He modeled his game after Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, and the third player, the one why he wore the #3. “So I’m a big Jordan guy, which everyone knows,” Dwyane Wade said on the Point Forward podcast. “But I was a big Allen Iverson and Kobe guy. Those were my three that I kind of followed and tried to pat my game after, because I thought all of those three different guys’ games was something attainable for me.”

So, from being a kid in Chicago now to a legend not just to the Miami Heat but to the entire NBA world, Dwyane Wade left an unmissable mark.