Dwyane Wade Reveals Surprising NBA Mount Rushmore List

The former superstar shooting guard may or may not include a former teammates or two in his top four.

Oct 28, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Former Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade is honored with 'Dwayne Wade Blvd' during halftime against the Detroit Pistons at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images / Rhona Wise-Imagn Images

Former 13-time All-Star shooting guard Dwyane Wade recently appeared on "The OGs" podcast, hosted by his ex-Miami Heat championship teammates Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller.

Their conversation touched on a variety of topics, lingering of course on the 6-foot-4 Marquette product's Hall of Fame career, but of particular interest to hoops nerds is just who makes the cut on Wade's list of his four favorite NBA players ever.

"First of all, and UD will say it on here: what you say on this thing, it's what you like. And it's not a shot at anybody else," Miller said.

Wade and Haslem were rookies together on a playoff-bound 2003-04 Miami squad, though they took very different paths to the league. Haslem went undrafted out of Florida in 2002, and after a year abroad was picked up by his hometown team. Wade was the No. 5 overall pick in a loaded 2003 NBA Draft class, which also included their eventual Heat teammates LeBron James (the No. 1 overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the only remaining active player from the draft) and Chris Bosh (the No. 4 overall pick by the Toronto Raptors). Another future Hall of Famer, Carmelo Anthony, was selected at No. 3 by the Denver Nuggets out of Syracuse.

Miller inked a free agent deal with Miami in a franchise-altering 2010 offseason, which also saw James and Bosh link up with Wade and Haslem, both of whom agreed to somewhat team-friendly deals to accommodate the new additions. The Heat went to four straight NBA Finals with the group, winning in 2012 and 2013.

"So this mountain's pretty easy," Wade said. "Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal. And [if] Shaq's keeps talking that s--- I'm going to put Steph [Curry] in there and take him out. But I won a championship with Big Fella, I'm with it."

O'Neal was traded to Miami after Wade and Haslem's rookie season, transforming the team into instant title contenders. The Heat made the 2005 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, but fell to the Detroit Pistons. Miami won it all the next year in a six-game tilt against the Dallas Mavericks. Wade was named Finals MVP. The Heat dealt O'Neal to the Phoenix Suns midway through a lost 2007-08 season.

Jordan, generally considered the greatest player of all time, won six Finals MVPs, six titles and five MVPs with Wade's hometown Chicago Bulls during a magical eight-season run, from the 1990-91 season through 1997-98. Bryant won five championships — three alongside O'Neal — two Finals MVPs and one league MVP with the Los Angeles Lakers. James has won four championships, four league MVPs, and four Finals MVPs and appeared in 10 NBA Finals. O'Neal won four total titles, three Finals MVPs and one league MVP.

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