LeBron James and Dwyane Wade began their career together in 2003. Since then, the former has always been the media favorite. They even dubbed him ‘The Chosen One’. King James also took home the ROTY and Wade finished 2nd in that race. But it was ‘The Flash’ who won the championship before Bron. The duo would later share the stage and win more rings together. But who was the better player amongst them? A former teammate with the Miami Heat explained.

Udonis Haslem, who only represented the Heat franchise in his 20-year spell, had no issue picking LeBron James as the best player he shared the court with. But the current VP of Basketball Development added a caveat in favor of Dwyane Wade. “The best I ever played with? Let me tell you something, man. It’s gotta be ‘Bron. But what I’m gonna say is I watched D-Wade and Bron play 1-on-1. I saw that game. D-Wade won.”

In the resurfaced clip from the Club 520 Podcast, Haslem reiterated that LeBron was still his #1. “Yes, just because he lost one-on-one to D-Wade” doesn’t change the fact for him. After all, the ‘Akron Hammer’ won 2 Finals MVP and 2 League MVP awards during his time with the franchise.

That’s why he previously admired the quality of Dwyane Wade on being second fiddle to LeBron. Also, it was at the time when the 3x NBA Champion had already established himself as the #1 guy for the franchise, yet he made that sacrifice.

“The best teammate LeBron ever had,” claimed UD while he spoke about the connection between Wade and LeBron. He continued, “You can have so many great basketball players, but if you don’t have a brotherhood and a connected locker room, the X’s and O’s, the talent will not matter.” There were obvious sacrifices that Heat #3 made, but it also came at a cost.

Dwyane Wade and his villain era alongside LeBron James

The time before the Big 3 was a very critical one for the Heat franchise. In order to convince Dwyane Wade, Miami Dade County was even renamed to Miami Wade County. Not sure how much it played a factor, but both ‘The Flash’ and Chris Bosh signed for the Heat. And a day later, LeBron made ‘The Decision’, creating the Big 3.

But it was not entirely a feel-good story. The Cleveland fans felt backstabbed by it. But due to the association with the 4x Champion, even Dwyane Wade was called a villain. “I’m not a Villain, I don’t want to be that,” he revealed on his podcast, three months ago. “I want to play basketball. I want to smile when I want to I want to talk a little sh*t.”

Ultimately, he and LeBron James dominated the league together and earned the love of the fans. After all, they made it to the NBA Finals four times in a row and won the championship back to back in 2012 and 2013. It was all possible because the players understood each other and their roles in the team. And had no problem with LeBron being the face.

“Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.”