Making the journey from a high school player to a college player and finally, the NBA is tough. Only a few successfully come through. One player who had to deal with these struggles and has waded through the difficulties is the three-time NBA champion, Dwyane Wade. Making an appearance on NBA on TNT, Wade gave credit to his former teammate Penny Hardaway for being his inspiration.

Anfernee ‘Penny’ Hardaway was a three-time All-NBA player and a teammate of Wade at Miami. On the show, Wade brought up his struggles and said how looking at Hardaway coming through similar circumstances inspired him.

“When I was coming out of high school, I was academically ineligible. I was told to do a little research. And my research led to a player (Hardaway) that played in the same conference, that went to Memphis state, that was academically ineligible in his first year in college. Ten years later, to look at the career you had in college, at that time what you were doing in the NBA, that gave me the confidence that I was making the right decision.” 

Dwyane Wade: From struggling in college to being a future Hall of Famer

“I looked up to you because I (saw) someone that was amazing at the sport that I wanted to play and that was going through the same trials and tribulations I went through in life. Thank you for leading the way. (You) showed that you can go through this and you can still come out of this and be an All-Star and be one of the best to ever play the game.”

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Hardaway was one of the players whose promising career was cut short by injuries. A few months ago, LeBron James admitted on Instagram that Hardaway is his second favorite player of all time. He played one year with Wade at Miami back in the 2007-08 season.

After being eligible to start by his second year, Wade was lethal in college. In his two seasons at Marquette, Wade averaged 19.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. Following those two successful seasons, he declared for the NBA draft. Then in 2003, he was picked third overall by the Miami Heat and the rest, as they say, is history.