During a recent appearance on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, Dwyane Wade shared his thoughts on where Michael Jordan fits in the NBA’s GOAT debate.
When asked if any basketball player has passed MJ on the list of the greatest players in league history, Wade spoke about how the sport has evolved, admitting that it’s only a matter of time before someone wrestles the GOAT title away from Jordan.
“These GOATs, these names that we throw out, it’s not gonna just be a lot of those players,” Wade explained at the 4:45 mark of the episode. “But the game continues to keep moving forward. And so we are gonna continue to see things that we have never seen before. And the eyes are gonna get younger and younger.”
Wade goes on to say that the younger generations will one day forget about Jordan, just as in recent years basketball fans have seemed to forget about the legacy of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
“We are not going to have a conversation about the GOATs,” he explained. “Now it’s going to be the younger, younger, younger generation. And they’re gonna forget about Jordan like we forget about Kareem.”
As for who he thinks is the GOAT, Wade maintained that he still rides with MJ, while admitting that LeBron James is “going to be the GOAT for a lot of generations.”
“I come from the Jordan era, so I’m biased,” Wade explained. “Michael Jordan will always be my GOAT. I played basketball because of Michael Jordan. All of us have our own individual opinions. LeBron is going to be the GOAT for a lot of generations. Jordan will be my GOAT. I made it out of the hood because I’ve seen a dude, number 23 play the game of basketball at a level where I was like I want to do some of that.”
Check out D-Wade’s full appearance on Armchair Expert up top.