Dwayne Wade Says He & LeBron James wanted to Reach Kobe Bryant’s Level

Former NBA players paid tribute to the late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant in a show on NBA on TNT. Among them was former Miami Heat player Dwayne Wade. Wade played alongside the likes of LeBron James in Miami when Kobe Bryant was well into his thirties- playing for the Lakers.

It was a time when the LeBron was at his peak and people compared him to Bryant for being one of the best players. Wade said that, for him or any other player in that era, it was always about trying to play at Bryant’s level and not about competing against him.

“The media always tries to put the guys that were good at this game against Kobe.  But what they don’t know is all of us were trying to do our very best to make him proud of us, to make him respect us. All we wanted to do is win, so that we can be on Kobe’s level,” Wade said.

That’s what he meant to this generation, that’s what he meant to a player such as LeBron, that’s what he meant to myself and so many others.

Wade said that there were no comparisons for who was the best.

“This is a fraternity, this is a brotherhood. Kobe was the leader of the brotherhood,” he said. “This is a big loss to all of us and the entire world.

“He stopped the earth for a day. No one moved, no one did anything.”

Dwayne Wade shared his favourite memory with Kobe Bryant

Wade recalled a time when Bryant had actually called him for some help in the 2009 Championship run against Boston Celtics. Dwayne felt privileged to get a call from a senior professional ahead of such a big game.