NBA news: Dwyane Wade's viral 'sacrifice' comments draw Stephen A. Smith mic drop

04/01/2025 05:34 PM

On Tuesday's episode of ESPN's First Take, Stephen A. Smith delivered a passionate defense of Dwyane Wade in response to the Hall of Famer's recent viral comments about sacrifice and his place in NBA history.

"I'm gonna say this on national television to D-Wade, my brother, I'm getting sick and tired of you diminishing who the hell you are," Smith said. "You ain't no 25th floor, you're the 30th floor… that's a three-time champion there we [are] talking about with Dwyane Wade. That's a guy that recruited LeBron James. That's a guy that sacrificed a lot of his game to facilitate LeBron James being who he is because LeBron James was great and greater than D-Wade and D-Wade would be the first to admit that, but LeBron hadn't tapped into his pure greatness until he paired with Dwyane Wade."

Smith continued.

"So, Dwyane Wade… arguably the third greatest off guard in the history of basketball behind MJ and Kobe – we could throw Oscar Robertson in there and all of this other stuff but Dwyane Wade is right there in that conversation. His selflessness, his leadership, his commitment to winning, his willingness to sacrifice so wins could take place and everything that came with it all contributes to winning."

“I’m getting sick and tired of you diminishing who the hell you are. You ain’t no 25th floor, you’re the 30th floor… That’s a guy that recruited LeBron James. … D-Wade is a champion. Period.”

Stephen A. Smith to Dwyane Wade’s recent comments.pic.twitter.com/DHbWYz1K0yhttps://t.co/HNAjlYNhBH

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 1, 2025

Smith went further.

"Dwyane Wade has been a man amongst boys on many occasions in his career and he's been a glue piece… he's elevated the profile of Pat Riley who's a winner as a coach and as an executive and as a player. He elevated that man, he elevated Miami, he elevated LeBron James. D-Wade belongs on that 30th floor… stop saying it's less than that. I don't care that Bill Russell has 11 rings. D-Wade is a champion period."

Dwyane Wade defends ring-based greatness with hotel analogy amid Stephen A. Smith's emphatic praise

Wade sparked the debate on a recent episode of his Wy Network podcast, using a hotel analogy to describe how he views the hierarchy of greatness in the NBA.

"It's going to be a lot of arguments about oh, he's better because he scored more points, oh, he's better because I like his game better, he's better because he won more rings. This conversation never goes anywhere," Wade said.

"Let's use a hotel. The hotel has 30 floor[s], okay, we [are] talking about an access key. When I look at the game, I look at who has an access key to get to the 30th floor… so the 30th floor access key in winning, I can't go to 30. Bill Russell's up there, Jordan's up there. I may be on floor 25 but I ain't at floor 30. That doesn't mean anything to me, it just means that I don't have access to go to that floor.

“Winning a ring, it’s a whole different game than being a great player and having stats… the sacrifice – I can have more stats if I didn’t care about winning a ring.”

Dwyane Wade weighed in on the NBA GOAT debate

(via @wynetwork)pic.twitter.com/eVqXazY5tG

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 1, 2025

The distinction, Wade explained, lies not in talent or stats, but in a player's ability to win at the highest level.

"So, if you have not won a ring, it does not mean that you're not colder than somebody who won a ring, you just don't have access to go to the ring floors. Winning a ring – it's a whole different game than being a great player and having stats. The sacrifice… I can have more stats if I didn't care about winning a ring, so this is a different conversation."

From Finals MVP to Olympic gold, Wade's resume ranks among the elite

Wade retired in 2019 after a 16-year career, primarily with the Miami Heat. He won three NBA championships (2006, 2012, 2013), earned Finals MVP honors in 2006, and was selected to 13 All-Star Games. He also won the All-Star Game MVP in 2010, made two All-NBA First Teams, three All-NBA Second Teams, and three All-NBA Third Teams, along with three NBA All-Defensive Second Team selections.

Wade led the NBA in scoring in 2009 and helped Team USA capture a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He also earned a bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics and another bronze at the 2006 FIBA World Cup in Japan.

He averaged 22.0 points, 5.4 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 48% from the field across 1,054 career games. Wade remains the Miami Heat's all-time leading scorer with 21,556 points — no other player in franchise history has surpassed 10,000.

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