Miami Heat legend and recently retired guard Dwyane Wade became emotional as he took to Instagram to discuss his feelings following the tragic death of Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant on Sunday.
Wade called Bryant's passing “one of the saddest days” of his lifetime and a “nightmare.” he also thanked Kobe and admitted he yearned for Bryant's respect throughout his career.
https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1221597667345752064
Wade and Bryant were mostly competitors during the course of their respective NBA careers, but they did have the opportunity to join forces with Team USA during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
The two were the standout shooting guards in the NBA for the better part of a decade and were often pitted against one another in MVP conversations and things of that nature.
Wade called Kobe “the greatest player of our era” prior to his final matchup against the Lakers great in November of 2015 (via ESPN):
“I do feel — and I've said this before the last couple of years with LeBron [James], when he became the best player in our game — that Kobe Bryant is the greatest player of our era,” Wade said. “The Kobe Bryants aren't around no more. There are good young players, but there will never be another Kobe. So every opportunity you get to [face him], you want to seize that moment.”
Wade sent out a number of posts on Sunday to honor Bryant and his daughter Gianna who — along with seven others — also perished in the helicopter crash:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7zZDKTnwGT/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7zbDxxHLMC/
Sunday has been a day of tremendous sadness, but Dwyane Wade also made sure to show appreciation for the personal relationship he developed with Kobe Bryant and the motivation the former Lakers superstar gave him throughout his career.
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