Sports
Dwyane Wade Quotes Kobe Bryant During Heat Jersey Retirement Ceremony
Jeff Haynes/Getty ImagesThe Miami Heat retired team legend Dwyane Wade’s No. 3 jersey Saturday at halftime of the team’s 124-105 home win over the Cleveland Cavaliers at AmericanAirlines Arena.During his halftime speech, Wade quoted the late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, who he competed against for 13 seasons and won a gold medal with…
Jeff Haynes/Getty Images
The Miami Heat retired team legend Dwyane Wade‘s No. 3 jersey Saturday at halftime of the team's 124-105 home win over the Cleveland Cavaliers at AmericanAirlines Arena.
During his halftime speech, Wade quoted the late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, who he competed against for 13 seasons and won a gold medal with for Team USA at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
“Kobe said the most important thing is to try to inspire others so they can be great in whatever they try to do,” Wade said, per ESPN's Cameron Wolfe. “I hope I inspired you. Thank you for making me a part of your legacy. Please know you're a huge part of mine.”
Wade elaborated on Bryant further postgame to reporters:
“The impact that the passing of Kobe has done on myself and so many others is it's made us sit down and stop. Life goes so fast. We move at a rapid pace. It's made me enjoy the moment more. It's made me want to create more memories. It definitely put a lot of things in perspective.
“As athletes, we're looked at as superheroes. We looked at Kobe as a superhero. That moment has touched all of us and will continue to. Kobe was leading the way — he retired and showed us in his next act after retirement that you can master that as well.
“He mastered basketball, he mastered being an amazing father, he mastered being a husband, he mastered being a creator. He was showing us the way and now we don't have that. So I do have a responsibility to be that guy and show the way for the next generation.”
Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others died in a helicopter crash Jan. 26.
The Heat are honoring Wade in a three-day ceremony that ends Sunday.
On Friday, the team hosted a “Flashback L3GACY” celebration that included numerous videos and tributes from some of the most notable names in Wade's basketball life, including ex-teammate and Los Angeles Lakers guard/forward LeBron James, Hall of Fame center and ex-teammate Alonzo Mourning and his former coach (and current Heat leader still) Erik Spoelstra.
The ceremony continued with the jersey retirement and Wade's Saturday speech:
It will conclude Sunday with the release of D. Wade: Life Unexpected, a documentary detailing the on- and off-court life of Wade. That doc will drop at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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