Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade is one of the biggest NBA stars of the last couple of decades, but there was a time when he wasn’t yet sure that he had truly made it.
As he told Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry on Instagram Live, there was a specific moment when Wade knew that he had established himself as a star in the league.
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“I remember the game, when I first remember when we was playing the [Los Angeles] Lakers, we were playing against Kob (Kobe Bryant),” Wade recounted. “And I remember when Kob first picked me up 94 feet.”
Wade then explained that previously in his career, Bryant would slack on Wade defensively and give him open three-point attempts. Not until Bryant picked Wade up far away from the basket did he know that he had fully arrived.
“The moment where guys start picking me up at 94 feet because they didn’t want me to touch the basketball,” said Wade. “That’s the moment I was like, ‘Oh okay, I got their respect now.'”
Surely, the moment Wade described must have come fairly early in his NBA career. In his first year, Wade finished third in voting for Rookie of the Year behind fellow legends LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony.
The following season, Wade earned his first appearance at the All-Star Game.
By the end of his third season, Wade was hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy and the Finals MVP award.
The rest, as they say, is history.
