Dwyane Wade Believes There Are Multiple GOATs in NBA History

There are few things that sports fans love as much as a good debate. Whether you’re sitting at a bar, watching TV, or talking in your group chat, there’s always time to argue. And while there’s no shortage of possible topics, all-time greatness is a fixture in those discussions.

Even pro athletes aren’t able to avoid that reality. Take Dwyane Wade as an example.

Ahead of the guard’s induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, D-Wade sat down with Mackenzie Salmon of USA Today and fielded a question about the NBA “GOAT”. His answer, however, was something outside of the norm.

Let’s roll the tape and check out Wade’s pick.

Wade picks Michael Jordan as his GOAT but opened the door to other candidates

Part of the appeal of a GOAT debate is that each participant has to decide on a singular answer; in each sport, there can only be one “Greatest of All-Time.” Dwyane Wade, however, is prepared to bend that logic a bit.

During the aforementioned interview, USA Today‘s Mackenzie Salmon used Brandon Miller’s assertion that Paul George was his GOAT as the framing device for her question to D-Wade. And while the Miami Heat legend would throw his support behind a different player, he did support Miller’s thought process.

“Yeah, I think [Miller] said it right,” Wade explained. “I mean, from the standpoint that we all have our personal GOATs because these are the people that we watched, right? These are the people who, it doesn’t matter how good someone else is, this is our guy. And a lot of it is because it’s a style of play or, you know, whatever the case may be. And so, yeah, my GOAT has always been Michael Jordan because I grew up, like look at the way I play. I tried to play, I tried to emulate Michael Jordan.”

That endorsement, though, didn’t mean the Hall of Famer is excluding other stars from the metaphorical Mount Rushmore. In fact, Wade is completely comfortable admitting that there are multiple GOATs across NBA history.

“But, you know, I had other players that was my favorites, like Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant,” the Chicago native continued. “I had players along the way that were, these are all GOATs in my eyes. To me, it’s hard to call one GOAT, you know? It’s a room of GOATs, and it’s conversations that people can have, that I can have, and other guys can have. And, you know, Michael Jordan is in that room, one of my GOATs. And, you know, one of my friends, LeBron James, is in that room. Like, it’s a lot of GOATS in the room … and these are GOATS of eras.”

And there you have it, straight from Wade himself.

This isn’t the first time Wade hedged his GOAT-related comments

Based on the fact that his answer was tied to Miller’s relatively recent quotes, it’s easy to think that Wade’s GOAT take is a new development. Previous reporting, however, reveals that isn’t the case.

In 2021, the guard appeared on the I Am Athlete podcast and spoke about all-time greatness. He gave Michael Jordan plenty of flowers but also paid tribute to LeBron James.

“LeBron is one of my good friends. I have so much respect for what he’s doing now, what he’s done and what he will eventually do, because he’s not done yet,” Wade explained, according to an NBC Sports write-up. “It will definitely be an argument that will need to be had. If LeBron James ends up the No. 1 scorer of all-time, top five in assists and top five in rebounds—and have four, five or six championships—you can not do nothing but have the conversation of who is the greatest of all time.”

His Airness, however, still occupied the top spot.

“I come from a Jordan era. I am biased and I’m going to be biased until the day I pass away. Michael Jordan will be my GOAT,” Wade added. “I’m not taking anything away from LeBron. LeBron is amazing. But Michael Jordan is my GOAT.”

At this point, though, we see the multiple-GOAT idea resurface. Even if MJ get the nod, Wade wasn’t willing to make a unilateral decision.

“He [LeBron] will be the GOAT for a lot of generations,” the guard explained. “I started playing the game because of Michael Jordan. He will be my GOAT until the day I pass away.”

So, say what you will about Wade and his grasp on the difference between singular and plural nouns, but his position is at least consistent.