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Dwayne Wade was part of the 2003 NBA draft that headlined LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. James was the No. 1 pick, “Melo” was the third while Wade was drafted fifth overall by the Miami Heat.
James was the high school phenom dubbed as “The Chosen One” while Anthony just led Syracuse to the 2003 NCAA championship. Wade, given the headliners, opened up on the “Point Forward” podcast about his desire to win an NBA title before either one of them:
“I wanted to strike first. I wasn’t a big name in the class like those guys, so I needed something to separate myself or something that would put me on their level and winning a championship at 24 was that to me.”
LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony had better rookie seasons than the player who would later be called the “Flash.” James averaged 20.9 PPG, 5.5 RPG and 5.9 APG while Anthony had 21 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 2.8 APG. Dwyane Wade was a distant third for the Rookie of the Year award.
“D-Wade” knew only a championship would put him in the same stratosphere as James and Anthony.
The arrival of Shaquille O’Neal would do just that for Wade to get a leg up over his more illustrious teammates. O'Neal came to South Beach in the summer of 2004 along with Dwayne Wade, who led the Miami Heat to their first franchise championship.
Meanwhile, LeBron James was toiling fruitlessly with the Cleveland Cavaliers while Carmelo Anthony’s Denver Nuggets were hit-and-miss. The four-time NBA champion wouldn’t win his first NBA title until 2012 and only after he jumped ship to join the former Marquette product in Miami.
Carmelo Anthony will still be searching for that elusive championship next season under whichever team he plays for.
The 2003 draft class of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade was one of the best
The 2003 NBA draft produced one of the best groups of players in NBA history. LeBron James is a GOAT candidate, while Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade are members of the 75th Anniversary team. All three are locks for the Hall of Fame.
The trio headed a class that included Chris Bosh, Chris Kaman, Kirk Hinrich, Nick Collison, David West, Boris Diaw, Carlos Delfino, Kendrick Perkins and others. It was one of the deepest drafts that produced legends and superb role players.
In many instances, the 2003 group is compared to the talent that entered the NBA in 1996. Among the stars in that draft were Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Ray Allen, Marcus Camby and Peja Stojakovic. The group also had Shareef Abdul-Rahim, Kerry Kittles, Antoine Walker, Jermaine O’Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Derek Fisher, Jerome Williams and others.
Defensive great Ben Wallace was part of the 1996 class but went undrafted.
