Kobe Bryant played against a lot of generational talents and almost always managed to come out on top. Bryant’s work ethic was second to none as he would go to extreme lengths just to get an edge over his opponents on the court. So, to have the respect of The Black Mamba is a special honor in and of itself. And Dwyane Wade couldn’t be more proud when he shared an old video of Bryant recognizing his greatness and fiercely competitive mindset.
Wade recently posted a video on his Instagram Stories of a post-game interview, where Kobe Bryant could be seen praising The Flash. Having locked horns against each other on numerous occasions, Bryant had this to say about the Miami Heat legend, “I love him, man, because he was a vicious competitor. He’s vicious you know, he’s mean.”
The video also had a few snippets of their matchups from the past in the adjacent slides. In one of the videos, Bryant steals the ball from Wade, only to get rejected at the rim with a chase-down block from the 6’3 guard. Another video has Wade stripping the ball from Bryant and then dunking it on the Lakers’ superstar with ease. And these are just some of the many highlight-worthy plays that took place between these two iconic shooting guards.
Given the amount of work Bryant used to put into his craft, he had no respect for players who did not invest time and effort into basketball. But to be challenged by Dwyane Wade every time the two squared off prompted Bryant to have a certain respect in his heart for him. Kobe’s record going against D-Wade also indicates why he had so much respect for the three-time NBA Champion. Kobe and the Lakers were 9-11 against Wade’s Heat, per StatMuse. However, it may be noted that some of those matchups happened after Miami formed their SuperTeam with LeBron James and Chris Bosh.
D-Wade wanted to earn Kobe Bryant’s respect
Just as Kobe Bryant developed respect for Dwyane Wade and his competitiveness on the floor, Wade, too felt the same way about the five-time NBA champion over the course of his career. Though mostly on opposing teams, Wade still wanted to earn that respect from Bryant.
“I remember when I first came in the league as a two-guard, for me, Kobe was the bar. He was the greatest player in the game to me, he played the same position, and so for me, I needed that respect from Kobe more so than anybody else in the league,” Wade had once said.
Wade saw Kobe as the top dog to defeat and eventually did get to a point where he might’ve even edged Bryant. But the fact that Wade did so to earn Bryant’s respect instead of just defeating him, speaks volumes on Kobe’s character and reputation in the NBA.
