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"Happy I got a chance to get that first championship before LeBron" - Dwyane Wade on winning a ring before his draft mates


The NBA's 2003 draft class superstars, namely LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony, were as thick as thieves. In fact, they were so close that they regularly spent summer vacations together, even earning the nickname the "Banana Boat Crew."

No matter how many meals, drinks, or trips to the Bahamas they enjoyed together, their fierce competitiveness was impossible to ignore. As effortlessly as they exchanged banter, they would just as quickly tear each other apart if one stood between them and the coveted Larry O'Brien trophy.

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That said, D-Wade took great pride in being the first amongst the group to win it all when he led the Miami Heat to the 2006 championship with a hard-earned NBA Finals win over the Dallas Mavericks.

D-Wade had a squad that was ready to win it all

The Flash didn't take long to get a taste of the postseason. In his rookie season, he advanced as far as the second round before falling to the powerhouse Indiana Pacers. In his sophomore season, with the towering Shaquille O'Neal joining the ranks in South Beach, the Miami Heat quickly emerged as a serious contender for Eastern Conference dominance, challenging the Detroit Pistons for supremacy.

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After getting nipped by the Pistons in 2005, Wade and the Heat came back with a vengeance the following season and ousted the Pisto ns in the Eastern Conference Finals, before going all the way in the NBA Finals.

As spectacular as Wade was in the finals, where he averaged 34.7 points, he explained that he wouldn't have been able to get the job done without a veteran crew — something LeBron and Carmelo didn't have early in their career.

"I had the team that they didn't have at that point. I had the team that was built to win a championship," Wade shared. "Shout out to the Miami Heat and Pat Riley for making that big move to bring in Shaq. And then eventually Antoine Walker, Gary Payton, J Will, James Posey. We had a squad."

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It took LeBron a few seasons to reach the NBA Finals, thank s to the support provided by Larry Hughes and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. For Melo, it wouldn't be until 2009 when he reached the West finals. By then, he already had the likes of former Finals MVP Chauncey Billups and Kenyon Martin flanking him.

"Those guys didn't have that kind of team yet. Bron didn't have that. Melo didn't have that. And CB definitely didn't have it at the time in Toronto," Dwyane explained. "So, for me, I was like, Let me get to this now! Before these guys come in and take it. Let me get me a ring first."

Related: "I said, 'No, we'd rather you not take him if he's there'" - Dell Curry admitted he had other plans for Stephen Curry on draft night

The vets gave him the runway to take off

While some veterans may have a hard time handing the reins of the team to a young, up-and-coming player, Wade said he encountered no such problem with the Heat. He added that Shaq, Udonis Haslem and Gary Payton played like All-Stars in their respective roles, which left him free to do what he did best — dominate in the latter part of the NBA Finals to pull the rug from under the Mavs.

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"Growing into the leader of that team, I had to do more than I knew I could do to help us achieve that. And shout out to Shaq, and UD, and Posey, and GP, and all these guys who played their role to a T that allowed me to be able to perform at that level," Wade stated.

"The defensive role, the leadership role, Shaq getting double-teamed, all these kind of things helped me go to a different level," he continued. "I was just happy I got a chance to get that first champion ship before LeBron got in here and started hogging all the Finals appearances."

In an intriguing twist of fate, LeBron and Chris wouldn't win their first NBA title until they joined forces with Dwyane on the Heat. After suffering a bitter defeat at the hands of the Mavs in 2011, they regrouped and came back even stronger the following year, capturing the championship against the Thunder in 2012.

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As for the last member of the Banana Boat Crew, Melo would retire from the NBA in 2023 without winning a single NBA ring.

Related: "It just wasn't a good fit basketball-wise" - Tyronn Lue breaks down why Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade didn't work out in Cleveland

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 1, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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