Dwyane Wade is widely regarded as one of the best shooting guards of all time. He will enter the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in August but did not choose a Heat legend or one of his close friends from the Banana Boat crew.
The Answer?
Wade could’ve easily picked Udonis Haslem, who was his teammate for 15 years, or LeBron James, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony or even his son Zaire Wade. Well, he didn’t and went with Allen Iverson instead, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman.
Iverson was not the choice everyone envisioned to present him, but it is not out of the ordinary. Wade said Iverson served as a major influence in his basketball life. He is the reason the Chicago native wore the No. 3 jersey in throughout his career. You can also tell the influence the 76ers great had on Wade’s game. Both were considered undersized guards — especially the 6-foot Iverson — but played much bigger than their statures.
Wade is the NBA’s all-time leader in blocks at the guard position with 855 total blocks in his career. It is 57 more blocks than Michael Jordan, who is second on the list. The explosiveness, athleticism, and relentless effort to get to the rim for smaller players is another similarity in their games.
Now, Iverson was not the defender Wade was, but he did have a knack for getting steals. “The Answer” is ranked 14th on the all-time NBA steals list. Another similarity they share is that they both have two of the best nicknames of all-time, “The Flash” and “The Answer.”
Other Inductees
The Heat legend will be joined by Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker, and Gregg Popovich as the only other fellow NBA players and coaches to be inducted this year. This will be one of the most decorated Hall of fame classes ever. All five inductees have combined for 15 NBA championships, 21 NBA Finals appearances, three NBA Finals MVP awards, 39 All-Star appearances, three NBA Coach of the Year awards, and scored a total of 95,092 points.
This could go down as one of the greatest all-around classes ever. The full list of inductees is Wade, Popovich, Gasol, Parker, Nowitzki, David Hixon, Jim Valvano, Gene Bess, Becky Hammon, Gene Keady, Gary Blair, and the 1976 Women’s Olympic Basketball team.
