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Better than LeBron? Being like Mike? Heat’s Wade evokes comparisons ahead of Hall enshrinement

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
·3 min read
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MIAMI — Comparisons tend to be a slippery slope among the NBA’s elite. But with Dwyane Wade about to enter the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Miami Heat President Pat Riley offered dual comparisons to greatness.

As in better than LeBron.

And as in like Mike.

In each case, offering perspective while discussing Wade in terms of LeBron James and Michael Jordan.

Even with James pushing the Heat to the NBA Finals in each of his four seasons with the team, Riley said it is Wade who stands as the franchise’s all-time greatest.

“While you can argue whether or not LeBron or Dwyane were better, and who was better, as a Heat player,” Riley said, “Dwyane is the greatest player ever who put on a uniform with us.

“LeBron was here for four years and gave us a tremendous lift and helped Dwyane achieve what he wanted to achieve. But over the body of work, over 17 years here in Miami, Dwyane is the greatest player that ever played for the Heat. And that’s not an insult to LeBron. That’s because of his longevity and the short term that LeBron was here.”

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James becomes eligible for enshrinement once fully retired for four full seasons, then to be considered for enshrinement in the fifth year of retirement.

Riley then turned to arguably the game’s ultimate icon, having previously offered his own perspective by sending Jordan’s No. 23 to the arena rafters even with Jordan playing in Miami only in visiting colors.

Riley said the similarities between Wade and Jordan were undeniable.

“He was Jordan-like,” Riley said of Wade, who will be enshrined Saturday in Springfield, Mass. “He had a game similar to Michael. He was like a cat, he was like a cougar. When he put the ball on the floor and he started going to the hoop — and we used to watch this on the tape all the time — we used to say, ‘Look at how low he is to the ground and he still has the strength and the power to go right or left, spin and dunk the ball or littler floaters of stuff. That’s Michael.’

“And he wanted to. He was his hero in a lot of ways. He watched him. Dwyane used to walk on the court like Michael Jordan. If you watched him stand and cross his legs and put his hands on his hip, it was like how Jordan would rest on a free throw. And so there’s nothing wrong in modeling yourself after someone who was great and taking on some of their characteristics.”

Riley then offered a final thought on Wade/Jordan, one punctuated with a laugh.

“But he had a game similar to Michael and he was unstoppable one on one,” he said of Wade. “Michael was unstoppable one on five.”

Traveling party

Among those with Heat ties scheduled to be in Springfield to help honor Wade are Heat Hall of Famers Riley, Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway, Gary Payton and Chris Bosh; Wade’s former teammates Udonis Haslem, Shane Battier and Bam Adebayo; the Arison ownership family; coach Erik Spoelstra; and assistant coach Caron Butler, who was a teammate with Wade in Miami and with Dallas Mavericks inductee Dirk Nowitzki . . .

Wade is scheduled to speak last at Saturday’s ceremony at Springfield’s Symphony Hall, with the inductions scheduled for 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., to be televised on NBA TV. The induction order is tentatively set as: Tony Parker, Gary Blair, Gene Bess, Pau Gasol, David Hixon, Gene Keady, 1976 U.S. Women’s Olympic Team, Gregg Popovich, Jim Valvano, Becky Hammon, Nowitzki and Wade.

Such prime placement is another example of what Riley cited as Wade’s evolution off the court.

“He just matured,” Riley said. “He became smarter. He became more experienced. He became more poised. He can get up in front of any crowd right now, take a mic and hold an audience for 30 minutes to an hour.”