Pat Riley is right: Dwyane Wade is the greatest Heat player ever

Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade is set to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday, and Pat Riley made a few comments that had fans stirring.

In an article by Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, current Heat president and former coach Pat Riley was quoted as saying Wade is:

“The greatest player to ever put on a uniform for us.”

As his words made their way to social media, some dissenters made a point to try to correct Riley.

Given his wording, fans were quick to say that technically–better players have worn the Heat jersey than Dwyane Wade. The man many responders looked to was LeBron James, who is unquestionably one of the best players to grace a basketball court, period.

Over the course of his time in Miami, LeBron was able to best Wade in both MVP and Finals MVP awards, and was certainly the better player of those championship years. Given his entire resume, you could argue that he is the best player to ever put on a uniform for the Heat.

But in that same vein, you could argue that Shaquille O’Neal is a better player than Wade to put on the jersey as well. As one of the most dominant players ever and a teammate of Wade on a championship team, Shaq also definitely ranks higher all-time and played for Miami. But nobody in their right mind would say he was a better Heat player.

And that’s the center of Riley’s comment. He went on to say that his words were:

“Not an insult to LeBron, that’s because of his longevity and the short term that LeBron was here.”

You could say that Russell Westbrook is one of the best players to wear the Houston Rockets uniform. But given his contributions to the franchise, he isn’t one of the best Rockets players ever. He doesn’t come close to the likes of James Harden, Olajuwon, or Drexler.

Dwyane Wade's time with the Miami Heat

Dwyane Wade embodies the Miami Heat's culture. He was the best player on the team that brought Miami their first ring. He played about 14-and-a-half seasons with the team, including a stretch as one of the best players in the world and a separate sendoff year.

Wade had to retire in South Beach, as anything else would’ve left a sour taste in the mouth. We can’t say the same about LeBron or Shaq. After all, Wade is the reason LeBron came to play for Miami in the first place.

So yes, Riley is right. Diehard LeBron supporters can defend their king’s legacy all they want, but everyone with a brain will recognize "Flash" as the greatest player in Heat history. Dwyane Wade built them into a real franchise with Riley at his side and now they will both be enshrined forever for it in the Hall of Fame.