At one point during their legendary NBA careers, Kevin Garnett and Dwyane Wade were frequently in each other’s way in the Eastern Conference. For three years straight from 2010 through 2012, Garnett’s Boston Celtics and Wade’s Miami Heat met in the playoffs.
The Celtics came out on top in the first round of the 2010 NBA Playoffs, but Miami won the following two playoff meetings, including a 2012 Eastern Conference Finals showdown that was a series for the ages. In 2014, Wade and Garnett met again in the playoffs when the big man was a member of the Brooklyn Nets. Wade’s Heat once again came out on top.
Despite all the playoff heartbreak that Garnett endured thanks in part to the play of Wade, he had high praise for the three-time NBA champion in light of his statue being revealed outside Kaseya Center.
“I think if he’s cool with it, then we should be cool with it,” Garnett said of Wade’s statue. “Shout-out to D-Wade too, man. It’s hard to get a statue. It’s hard to have a presence. To come in and be one of the most prolific 2-guards, arguably behind Mike (Michael Jordan), Kob (Kobe Bryant), [Clyde] Drexler, whoever you wanna put up there, D-Wade came in, made his mark. He’s just very deserving of it, man. He helped curate that whole Dade County, Miami culture.”
Garnett continued.
“D-Wade did his motherf—— thing down there, and salute to you, king,” he said. “I’m proud of you. I’m happy for you. And yeah, he deserves everything.”
Wade allegedly had a lot of input in how the statue came out, as he visited the statue maker on four different occasions, per former ESPN journalist Rachel Nichols.
The 42-year-old was recently asked to name three players who should be next in line to receive statues, and he mentioned LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. However, Durant ostensibly isn’t too bullish on his chances of getting a statue for any of the teams he’s played for.
“I highly, highly doubt I’ll get a statue of me put anywhere for playin’ basketball,” Durant said. “I appreciate the love, though, and the respect that people show me. That’s enough for me.”
When looking at Wade’s resume as a member of the Heat, it’s easy to see why he was given a statue. After all, he spent parts of 15 seasons of his NBA career in Miami, and during that time, he consistently made the All-Star Game and was also indispensable to all three of the Heat’s title teams in 2006, 2012 and 2013.
He was Miami’s go-to scoring option when the team won its first title in franchise history in 2006. But for the Heat’s two most recent titles, he embraced playing second fiddle to James on that end of the floor.
Garnett’s recent complimentary words on Wade’s statue suggest that he has a lot of admiration for the Heat legend, even if the two of them had some intense battles years ago.
