“He never stopped being the humble young man,” Dwyane Wade‘s mother once said. Most are of one mind when it comes to that. The retired NBA player has a street named after him, Dwyane Wade Boulevard! He has always had the same humble approach to his game too. He did take the secondary role to LeBron James when they had to compete for a championship. So, a shock wouldn’t be a surprising reaction from Wade when he heard that his former teammate contradicted his mother’s claim. 

During Wade and Candace Parker’s conversation at the Trophy Room, the latter played a game. The former WNBA star narrated a 19-year-old quote from Wade’s former teammate talking about him. And the task for Wade was to guess who it was. “He is not humble by far. When Dwyane gets on the court, I can see the hunger in his face. He wants to win. He does not take prisoners. He woajaants to kill you,” Parker read the comment.

Thanks to some hints from Parker, such as “old school” and “talks a lot,” Wade correctly guessed that it was none other than The Glove. With that came a swift shock on D’Wade’s face. “He said I was not humble?… Wait, what was that supposed to be? That was a compliment?” Wade hilariously argued. He was baffled as to why his former teammate thinks that he isn’t humble when, all his life, Wade has been exactly that. 

Even Wade’s mother would stand by that. “He’s still the same Dwyane. He never stopped being the humble young man we knew growing up,” Jolinda Wade once said. As Parker wrapped up the show, he did ask for a special segment just to discuss Gary Payton’s comment. Well, much to his displeasure, there wasn’t much time left, and the conversation had to be cut short. Wade’s hilarious reaction of shock is natural, considering how he has always tried to be humble. He even asks the others to be the same. He follows the same principle for his career after retirement as well. 

Dwyane Wade believes humbleness is the key to greatness!

Speaking of the TBS show The Cube that he did, Wade once said, “Listen, humble yourself, but at the same time, that same work that you put in to become great in a respective sport, use that same energy, that same focus to attack the things that you want to accomplish when you get done.” “It’s there for you, you just have to take it,” he told PEOPLE. Wade has had the same mindset from his playing days. He is humble and competitive at the same time. 

And Payton too was competitive. Payton’s comment dates back to 2006. This is the same year when the two had gotten into an altercation. He had joined the Heat and both wanted to win. Well, while brilliant minds create history, it is not without clashes. There was something that didn’t sit right with both, and that ended with the veteran player cursing the young Miami Heat star.

Even their teammates and head coaches had to intervene. It took place around the time when the Heat were playing Game 4 of the first-round series against the Bulls. The altercation was quickly resolved as both understood their passion to fight for each other. Payton later shared, “He (Wade) just showed me right there that he has a lot of heart, he obviously knows how to win, but he has respect too.” While Payton might have said that, he also believes how dedicated Wade is to his career and business.