NBA great Kobe Bryant once put ex-Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade in rare company
The late Kobe Bryant is generally considered the second-best shooting guard in NBA history behind Michael Jordan.
Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade often comes in third-place on this list but Bryant paid him the ultimate compliment during an interview with ex-NBA star John Salley.
Salley asked Bryant for his current starting lineup. Bryant included Wade while switching his position. This was 2006, so no former players were allowed, thus the omission of Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
"I'm trying to win a championship in the NBA," Bryant said. "Obviously, I'm taking LeBron James for sure. I'm taking Dwyane Wade. He can play the two, I'll run the three."
That was huge considering the competitiveness of Bryant. He rarely takes a backseat to anyone, especially younger players. At the time, Wade was just finishing up a season after he led the Heat to the first title in franchise history. The Heat rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Dallas Mavericks in six games. Wade was named Finals MVP in one of the most memorable performances in playoff history.
As for the rest of Bryant's starting five? He had some difficulties picking the final two spots. It was between Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki.
"Then it's a toss up," Bryant said. "Depending how you want to play. Do you want to go with Shaq at the five? Do you want to go with Tim Duncan? Do you want to put Garnett at the four? Do you want to go with Nowitzki?"
At 41, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is still one of the NBA's top players.
He has the Lakers playing against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs. Even though they are trailing 2-0 in the best-of-series, James is still playing at a high level.
He is averaging 23.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and eight assists in 38.4 minutes. The performance led to Miami Heat legend Tim Hardaway commenting on James' longevity.
He spoke about it during an interview with Hard Rock Bet.
"What he has done is phenomenal," Hardaway said. "He just keeps defying people. He keeps defying father time. And a big part of it is that he’s healthy. At that age, guys just aren’t jumping like that anymore. They don’t have that kind of athleticism anymore. But he still does."
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Shandel Richardson is the publisher of HeatRoundtable. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com