During his time with the Miami Heat, Dwyane Wade transformed the franchise from a respectable one into one of the premier teams in the NBA. With 13 All-Star appearances and three NBA championships to his name, Wade’s legacy in the game of basketball will be forever.
So while he may not be the most iconic player ever in NBA history, a new list from Bleacher Report ranking the top 100 players in NBA history has him behind some names that have left everyone scratching their heads.
Dwyane Wade ranked too low by Bleacher Report
In their list of the top 100 players, Wade was ranked 23rd by Bleacher Report. In their assessment of Wade, they said:
“Wade may be best remembered as LeBron James’ second option on a couple of title teams with the Miami Heat, but that perception obscures his dominant work during a 2006 title run after which he won Finals MVP.
Seven top-10 finishes for MVP, a scoring title in 2009 and some of the best shot-blocking numbers for a guard in league history still somehow fail to capture how impactful Wade’s athleticism, foul-drawing craft and length made him during a peak stretch that spanned from 2005 to 2013. Wade had the third-highest Box Plus/Minus in the NBA during that run, behind James and Chris Paul but ahead of Duncan, Bryant, Nowitzki and Garnett.”
It’s that note about Nowitzki and Garnett that jumps out because guess who is ranked ahead of Wade on this list?
Dirk Nowitzki is 18th, and Kevin Garnett is 16th.
Nowitski never won a scoring title and never made the All-Defensive team (Wade made it three times), but he seems to get this boost because he took down the Heat in 2011.
Never mind that Wade beat Dallas and Nowitski in 2006 and that those two seasons (2006 and 2011) were the only two seasons Nowitski made it past the conference semifinals, but everyone gets their one shining moment.
Likewise, Garnett is a fantastic player in his own right, but only had playoff success once he bolted for Boston, and even then, with a stacked roster, could only manage a single title before his disaster in Brooklyn to close out his career.
While we are at it, Kevin Durant at 13 is high, and so is Nikola Jokić at 17, and Wade should probably be ahead of them too.
It’s all semantics at the end of the day, but we have our duty here at All You Can Heat to protect one of the all-time greats of the game.
