The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2023 is nothing short of loaded. It’s hard to pick out one individual as the headliner of the class, as greats of the game like Pau Gasol, Becky Hammon, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich, the late Jim Valvano, and Dwyane Wade will all find be enshrined in Springfield by the end of the evening.
A number of those names are no-doubt inductees, and Wade is certainly among them. While he spent time with the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers during his career, Wade’s best years came as a member of the Miami Heat, which selected him fifth overall in 2003. Wade won a trio of titles with the Heat, with two of them coming alongside LeBron James, his good friend who joined Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami during the 2010 offseason. Ahead of his getting inducted into the Hall of Fame, James took to Instagram to pay tribute to Wade.
“Today is the official day my brother @dwyanewade goes into the HOF!!!!!” James wrote in his caption. “WOW WOW WOW bro!! Man I can’t say enough how proud and happy I am of/for you. The kid from Robbins, IL now in the HALL!!! You a bad man Trey Ball! SCREAMING 
CONGRATULATIONS 
. Love you kid!! 
#WadeCounty”
James also posted a tweet earlier in the week to praise Wade.
YESSIR!!!!! HEAT NATION
STAND UP!! STANDING OVATION
!!!! CONGRATULATIONS @DwyaneWade LOVE YOU BROTHER!! https://t.co/OC0Sxnf9dO
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 10, 2023
In addition to their four years together in Miami, James and Wade were teammates for 46 games in Cleveland during the 2017-18 season.