Ranking the top 50 players in NBA history…
26. Dwyane Wade
Wade, also known as “Flash”, is very clearly the third-best shooting guard in NBA history behind Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
Drafted No. 5 overall in 2003 by the Heat after a standout college career at Marquette, where he led the team to the Final Four, Wade quickly emerged as a star.
By the time 2006 rolled around, Wade was a 24-year-old NBA Finals MVP and suddenly looked like a top-five player on Earth. People were wondering if this guy was going to challenge MJ in the long-run.
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Injuries and an earlier-than-expected prime ended up making that an impossibility, but Wade still had an unbelievably successful career that featured three NBA championships (2006, 2012, 2013) and a scoring title in 2009.
Wade’s career is an interesting study of the NBA ego, because he essentially turned into a “Robin” soon after LeBron James arrived in Miami, despite possessing alpha abilities. The pair of stars reached four consecutive Finals together — the arrangement worked out fine.
Besides, Wade ended up with the resumé of an alpha that he is: 13-time NBA All-Star, eight-time All-NBA Team selection, and three-time All-Defensive Team selection, also earning All-Star Game MVP in 2010.
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Wade led the U.S. team to a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics and is Miami’s all-time leader in points, games played, assists, steals, shots made and shots taken.
After brief stints with the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers, he returned to the Heat, retiring in 2019. His No. 3 jersey was retired in 2020, and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023, also named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.
But who ranks ahead of Wade at No. 25 all-time?
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