Dwyane Wade believes that the younger generation of NBA fans will forget about Michael Jordan.
The retired Miami Heat star spoke with Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, where he admitted that, with time, Jordan would be stripped of his GOAT title in the minds of the new generation.
“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 stated.
The 40-year-old also referenced NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in his argument. He believes that younger fans of the sport are not privy to the legacy that he left behind in basketball. The 74-year-old played 20 seasons in the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. He collected various awards over his career, including multiple Rookie of the Year honors, six NBA MVPs, two Finals MVPs, and still holds the title as the game’s all-time leading scorer. Yet, new school fans have never heard of him. Wade feels like the same will be said of Jordan in time, despite his massive impact in the NBA and a decades-old successful sneaker empire.
“They’re gonna forget about Jordan like we forget about Kareem,” he continued. Wade admitted that coming up during a time when MJ was considered the GOAT, he will always view him as such. However, he believes that LeBron James will hold that place in newer generations’ hearts for years to come.
