Dwyane Wade claimed he would be spoken in same breath as Michael Jordan and LeBron James - "You doin your GOAT conversation with me"

Dwyane Wade is considered a great basketball player. However, he is never in the top tier of all-time greats discussions. He went on Shannon Sharpe’s YouTube show “Club Shay Shay” and said he would have been in that conversation with the likes of Michael Jordan and LeBron James if not for his injuries.

“You doin' your GOAT conversation with me,” Wade said of his career potential if he stayed healthy. “You mot******king right, I was one of those dudes.”

He claimed he did not care about where he is in these barbershop conversations. However, he knows he could have been higher on people’s lists.

“I don’t care. I understand it is subjective as well. But I would just be in a few more conversations.”

Wade is often placed at number three when discussing the greatest shooting guards of all time. Most people slot him in behind the clear top two of Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Wade is okay with that.

“I want my name to be mentioned with the greats. I am not first so I am mad about that, but if you tell me I am third, I can respect the two that are in front of me. To be mentioned with the greats is all I ever wanted. But the number moves. To think that Jordan and Kobe are set in stone, but these numbers move.”

Would Wade have been the best player in his time?

Wade insists his injuries derailed his full potential. He played less than 60 games five times in his career due to injury. He had multiple knee surgeries and suffered from other ailments during his Hall of Fame career.

“I was a very great player. Because of injury, I was not able to get to the level I knew I was capable of. In my mind, I was in GOAT level with my mentality and my talent.”

He felt like his career was ascending to the highest of heights early in his time in the league. He led the Miami Heat to a title and won Finals MVP in just his third season.

“In year three, the league was not hard for me. I was averaging 30 a game in the NBA. I already won a championship, so in my mind, I was quietly cocky and confident about where I was going and then injuries hit boom, boom, boom and it humbled me real quick.”

There is no doubt that he was one of the greats. It is interesting to think just how high he could have climbed without his health issues. Would he ever have gotten out of the shadow of his contemporaries James and Bryant?