Dwyane Wade is one of the few active players in the NBA today with three NBA titles to his credit. Wade has put himself in a different category amongst his peers, but still puts five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant on a different level entirely.
— What will Kobe Bryant make this season? Find out here! —
On Monday, Wade talked about Bryant’s legacy with the two veterans shooting guards set to go head-to-head on Tuesday night at American Airlines Arena. Wade believes Bryant is unique and the greatest player in his era. The face of the Heat franchise is looking forward to facing Kobe for perhaps the last time in South Beach, via Michael Wallace of ESPN:
I do feel — and I’ve said this before the last couple of years with LeBron [James], when he became the best player in our game — that Kobe Bryant is the greatest player of our era,” Wade said. “The Kobe Bryants aren’t around no more. There are good young players, but there will never be another Kobe. So every opportunity you get to [face him], you want to seize that moment.”
Wade also talked about Bryant’s recent struggles on the basketball floor. Despite Kobe’s recent struggles, Wade only sees the player that dominated the competition the two decades, via Wallace:
You hear about the guy being down, struggling with his shot and going through all of those other things,” Wade said Monday. “But what I’ll always see is the guy who has dominated this game at his position for a long time, who performed at a high level for 20 years.”
Bryant and the Lakers will head into Tuesday’s matchup with the Heat looking for their second win of the season. Los Angeles has dropped five of their last six games with their only win coming against the winless Brooklyn Nets last Friday.
Miami, however, will attempt to keep up with the Southeast division-leading Atlanta Hawks (7-2) with a win over the Lakers. The Heat (4-3) are currently in second place in their division with the Hawks sporting a two-game lead over Wade and company.