With the recent introduction of Dwayne Wade into the Hall of Fame, there has been some speculation on how this affects LeBron’s legacy. People started to ask the question, "Did Wade help LeBron or did LeBron help Wade win a championship?" The short answer here, and this is going to be WILDLY unpopular, is Wade helped LeBron. LeBron, when he first entered the league, was definitely going to be a star one day, and nobody had a doubt in their mind to think otherwise. He was the greatest high school athlete we have seen. However, when first getting to Cleveland, he didn’t do too well. He had nobody else to give him the edge he didn’t have.

For at least his first stint in Cleveland, LeBron did not have really anyone else that you could call a leader. Being 18, how do you expect Lebron to lead a team? He would still need at least two to three years to get acclimated to that position on a team, and honestly, it was too much pressure. So when LeBron decided to take his talents to Miami, there was already someone who they could consider a leader. At that time, it was Wade, and he did a phenomenal job.

Eventually, LeBron did end up being the leader. However, he needed to learn from Wade. Out of both of these all-time greats, you could say LeBron is obviously better than Wade, but at this time, LeBron needed to learn from Wade about emotional control, intelligence, and certainly how to run the ball. Lebron could already run the ball, but coming from a point guard who is slightly older than you and considered to be the one of best players at that time, you have to take what you can get.

I believe that Wade had to mentor LeBron for a year before he could take the reins, and it ended up being a good idea. Together with Chris Bosh, they won two championships. Back then, the concept of repeating was a lot easier than it is today. Lebron, at this point of his career, was in the finals for the past five seasons, which in today’s game is unheard of.

Final Thoughts

The super team of LeBron, Wade, and Bosh was legendary. However, the duo of LeBron and Wade will forever go into the hall of fame as one of the best duos ever in the NBA. Next to Magic and Kareem, and Shaquille O’Neal and the late great Kobe Bryant.