Dwyane Wade on Pushing for Shaquille O’Neal to Join Miami Heat in 2004: “I Had Seen Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in the Locker Room With the Champagne. I Finally Got a Chance to Do It”

Unless you win a championship in the NBA, it’s very difficult to establish yourself as a great player. Of course, there are many legends that entered the league but left without a title. However, the stamp of a championship really puts you on a pedestal and every NBA player aims to achieve that. That’s exactly what Dwyane Wade was missing out on until Shaquille O’Neal came and joined him at Miami Heat.

Sure, a legacy that consists of Wade, Chris Bosh, and LeBron James is class apart. But what Wade and Shaq achieved together was quite unexpected.

Dwyane Wade on bringing Shaquille O’Neal to Miami Heat

Wade recently appeared on Jalen Rose’s ‘Renaissance’ podcast. In conversation with Dwyane, Jalen asked him how the playoff run was in 2006 and the NBA finals when he finally got his first championship against the Dallas Mavericks. “In that era, if you don’t win championships, you’re not great. That’s the way it was portrayed,” the Miami Heat legend clarified.

“I knew if I wanted to be on Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan level, I had to be considered a champion. And when I got my opportunity at 24-year-old, my third year in the NBA, with one of the most dominant centers to ever play the game, I knew that this was my chance. And I couldn’t have let this opportunity slide by.”

Everybody in his team trusted him blindly to make it happen, so Wade expressed that it only boosted his confidence more. He added, “It was amazing to be able to finally complete something that’s been my dream my whole life. I had seen Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in the locker room with the champagne. I finally got a chance to do it.”

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The move to South Beach turned out great for both

A lot of people believe that Shaq is the only reason Wade was able to win a title against Dirk Nowitzki’s Mavericks. But it’s clear that Wade knows how vital O’Neal’s presence was at the time.

Shaq moving to South Beach after all the drama in LA, and Wade’s growing thirst for a title really worked well together. Although the legendary Shaq did not stay with Miami very long, that title really polished his legacy. And D-Wade had simply just got a whiff of what was to come after Bosh and LBJ arrived years later.

READ MORE: “Golden State Team Was Right on Our Heels”: Dwyane Wade Questions if LeBron James and the Miami Heat Could Have Won More Championships