Dwyane Wade vs Paul Pierce? Antoine Walker Weighs In

it's Dwyane Wade week here on locked on heat we got another interview for you today with Dwyane Wade's former teammate Antoine Walker uh not his first time on the program this is his second time he's joined us he's always great we're really excited to talk all things D Wade and his Hall of Fame career with somebody who played with Dwyane Wade he shares some really great stories about those finals runs in 2006 um and he does weigh in on Dwyane Wade versus Paul Pierce so we have that to look ahead to uh if you missed a couple of episodes here on Dwyane Wade week on Monday it was rank of palooza part one talking about Dwyane Wade's top five moments from his career his top five seasons and his top five teammates will rank all of those and then on Tuesday ESPN's Israel Gutierrez joined us to talk about covering Dwyane Wade from his rookie season uh all the way to his retirement so uh a bunch of great stuff here on the lockdown heat page on YouTube you can subscribe on Apple podcast Spotify Odyssey wherever it is that you get your podcast thanks for making lockdown heat your first listen every day now here's Antoine Walker your daily Miami Heat podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day really excited about this we are joined by three-time All-Star and NBA champion Antoine Walker to help us look ahead to Dwyane Wade's induction into the Hall of Fame so let's just start right there uh Antoine was there a moment when you realized when you were playing with D Wade that he could be a future Hall of Famer because you played with him so early in his career obviously won the NBA Finals with them was there a moment that you could think back to you're like wow this guy is special this guy could this guy might even make it to the hall of fame yeah you kind of knew that the year before I joined he he actually was really really good um the year before um I got there where he was starting to come into his own and um they were in their first you know him and Shaq was starting to develop a really good relationship and then when I got there I mean it went from zero to 100 he was he was amazing um how good he got and the way he led us that season especially championship year um but you could you could start to see the makings of that he was going to be somebody different he was going to be a Hall of Fame player he's going to be somebody that wins multiple championships that can transfer MVPs um first and second Team all NBA you can start to see that his work ethic that he put in um especially when I was there he he's doing so much one-on-one work with Eric's poster and then ironically air expresso becomes the the head coach and and and and that makes it even better so um but Dwayne um only got better and better as he as as every year got along besides for a few injuries Dwayne you know Scott's lemon how far he really could have got how good he could have really been what was Dwyane Wade's superpower I know that's a kind of open-ended question but when you think about him what made him special as a player what was his superpower play bigger than his size I think you know you think the way and the things he did you would think he was six four six five um he weighs probably six three on a good day you know what I mean it's probably six being a good day but I just think for a size and being the prototypical two guard I think his ability to dry the basket to finish around the basket was Second To None um he never wasn't I wouldn't say he was a great jump shooter um he meant enough to you know he made enough uh jump shots to make you have to respect him but his gift was in the open court finishing up the basket um creating plays in the half course Set uh being able to split Defenders and just the competitive drive he had um and I say this to all my friends it says to everybody I still believe and we've watched some great final performances I still believe his final performance ranks up there in the top five ever top five ever with what other ones oh well you gotta think about Michael yeah um yeah I think that I think that Phoenix series and Mike could think about a couple of them the Utah series too with Michael um but it's just a couple guys that that just stands out right away when you think about finals performances that just uh were great I thought Dirk nowinsky's final performance was great too the championship they won too as well we don't talk about that here we don't talk about that on this show but I'm glad you mentioned Michael though because we just spoke to a media member who covered him early in his career and he said that one of the first things that obviously the size is the same but just in terms of the overall athleticism kind of reminded him of Michael and I know you're a Chicago guy and I know Michael so the great but did you ever see things that Dwayne did that were kind of like you know his ability to slash cut through Defenders things of that sort that kind of were similar at least to what Michael Jordan was able to do yeah I think the athletic system was there Dwayne before he started having knee problems was super athletic um you know kind of a freak on the um as far as attacking the basket because you think the way you'll think he's six six but he's not you know I mean and I think the way he played above the basket was the most surprising thing for me obviously being from Chicago we're both from there I see them playing high school but just to see the Leaps and Bounds and how better he got and um and turned himself into this Hall of Fame player was was unbelievable yeah that's interesting I totally forgot about that but you you knew him before he even entered the league at that point then is that right because if it was Chicago roots yeah this is this is Chicago Roots obviously um he was a little younger than me um and I came out and he went to Richards I was a Catholic School guy but I know my friends and stuff had already told me about him so he didn't go to a really big name high school so he kind of flew up under the radar a little bit um but you know once he got the Marquette everybody from Chicago would now want to start claiming them because he because he ended up turning himself into a great player but he just played it was just it was a situation where he went to Richard's High School which was a little different uh from some of the powerhouses in Chicago so he didn't get the same notoriety that I would have got or some of the other guys from Chicago again interesting I I was curious because we saw when we talked to you about this last year where he kind of just took over that 2006 NBA Finals series but I don't think I'm just looking back I can't recall any other young player that had that kind of dominant impact and there were so many great veterans including you GP Shaq of course Alonso but what was it like to see this young kid who was still what 24-25 at that time kind of just take over and and just kind of say you know what I'm gonna take you all there just ride on me I'll I'll get you to the promised land because what was that like as one of those experienced veterans on that team and just seeing Dwayne kind of transform into that superstar in the moment well I take it back even further I give all the credit to Pat Riley um just one putting the right pieces around the way that allowed him and then the second person I got to credit is Shaquille O'Neal I mean Shaquille was still a big name big factor um a big sign in there but Shaquille didn't mind taking the back seat and not being the first option I thought that was you know that that took a lot for a guy of Shaq's uh you know statue and obviously obviously with his ability he took a back seat in a loud D Wade to lead this team um especially on the offensive end and you know now I put Pat in there because he put the right veterans myself James Posey J Wills obviously Lonzo was already there Shannon Anderson Derek Anderson you put a lot of good veteran guys that were willing to sacrifice and do the little things to allow the way to just be d-waved and I think that's what made us special um we had that little slogan 15 strong um that we use during the season and to be honest that was that was true we were a very together Group which really doesn't happen a lot in the NBA um it was very seldom that you will see guys um not together on and I mean off the court you obviously eight nine guys on the road going to dinner you don't see that typically in the NBA and that's why I bring that up and I think that's what made our run so special because we had so much respect for each other and the whole goal was winning the championship it wasn't pretty at times I know I think we won 52 games it was a three seed we wasn't dominant but the goal was to win a championship we knew if we locked in at the right time that we were going to be able to win the championship and we followed a young guy like D Wade and he took us home did you ever have any kind of hesitation about it because I mean you rarely see again we have like hall of fame veterans All-Stars like you just really an accomplished group and then kind of just almost deferring to this younger guy and you rarely ever see that in the NBA well I think what we have we also had to talk about a lot of people don't talk I think it was huge that Pat Riley came down after 20 games yeah and and came down and and then it became not saying I love Stan I think Stan's a great coach I don't want people to think that that's good I think when Pat came down the goal became let's win the championship what are we going to sacrifice what are we going to give up he had to sacrifice some things too it wasn't necessary you know we know Pat Rye is a disciplinarian um and likes everything to be ran one way but he gave us but he gave us some room too he allowed us to be pros and gave us some room I'm talking about things off the court and having fun and stuff like that and have let us have a little bit more input I think that also helped um with us when the title too as well having spent the time that you did with uh D Wade and having won a championship I'm sure a lot of people in your life ask you stories about those Seasons right um what's a story that you like to tell people about those years about Dwayne behind the scenes something that you know people uh fans just didn't get a chance to see what's a story that you typically will just like the uncork and share well I think for me just when I think about the way I think about the the days that him and sproston just locked up and just worked on one-on-one stuff it just got better it was kind of like his own personal coach you know I mean where he worked with him every day and how he pushed them and and he worked on his one-on-one ability and making him a better player um was special to watch that season as well and I think I say this again I just believe that Pat Riley and them did a good job of making sure they put the right veterans around Shaq and D Wade that allowed those guys to be themselves I think that's always key when you put veteran guys around that and we all had a common goal we all were starving for a championship myself you know J will white chocolate Alonzo obviously has been there it's been the The Rock and the foundation of the Miami Heat then you got Udonis hasm another rock um for the Miami so we had so many guys and great personalities and we we got along so well off the court I think that's what made it even more special I remember a time and you guys probably seen this one it was a lockout I mean no no pandemic was going on covet and we all got together on a group thing yeah and that's that's how close we were we were just that type of group that that run was so special and you just we were just reminiscing about the everything that went on the good the bad the ugly and and um the ultimate goal was to win a title and we did that this episode is brought to you by FanDuel take your first swing at betting on Major League Baseball and get 10 times your first bet amount in bonus bets up to 200 that's right just bet 20 bucks you'll land 200 in bonus bets whether you win or lose that's 200 that you can spend on betting on every everything from the money line to the over under to who you think is going to hit the first home run all an app that's safe secure super easy to use plus when you win you get paid instantly there's no better place to place a bet than on Major League Baseball than FanDuel America's number one sports book and you sign up today you visit fanduel.com lockdown and you get up to 200 in bonus bets that's fanduel.com lockdown FanDuel the official partner of Major League Baseball there's something I'm dying to ask you all right and uh I'm gonna warn you most guys might try to be diplomatic about this but I'm really hoping that you're just gonna answer it because you're you are literally the only person qualified to answer it all right Paul Pierce has made some noise on social media comparing his career to Dwyane Wade's so I I just want you to settle this argument once and for all you spent a lot of time playing with Paul Pierce you spent a lot of time playing with D Wade who was the better player Paul Pierce or Dwyane White this is tough man let me and I'm gonna give you guys I'm gonna answer your question I'm not gonna avoid the question but uh the way how this Hall of Fame celebration here um last week and I went on um I was on paper route on another uh podcast show and he Wade didn't like my response because I said Paul we gave would have gave him a run for his money in a one-on-one and the way was pissed at me so he won a championship with But to answer your question I mean um and this is and it was and when I once you really started thinking about it it's it's really two different players um Paul Pierce was a big body 230 pound really small forward a true small forward when you think of Paul Pierce you're thinking more matchups with LeBron James and um some of the Premier Carmelo Anthony some of the premiere three men in the league d-way was a little different and then and that's the way was more was way better in transition you can get out in transition uh finish at The Rim um obviously with with the athleticism that that obviously um D Wade had I would say Paul both of them were good Defenders D Wade was just better than the passing Lane you know you start splitting hairs when you start talking about those two guys but obviously D Wade has won three titles um is going to the Hall of Fame and and right now you know obviously pause the Hall of Famer you know so I think this is just explaining but they're very close I play with two Dynamic players I just think you know Paul's more of a throwback um than D Wade when I'm thinking about offensively what Paul's gonna post you up uh scoring a more methodical way where D Wade is going to get out and transition he can he's you know how fire is an exciting player transition um so you know you start you're picking it's you nitpicking at at some point yeah when you get to talking about those two guys and they both gonna get their just doing in in the Hall of Fame how important is it to like that's what I heard that's all now how important is it when you consider like titles because obviously it's a group Sport and like everybody contributes but you heard Paul make that argument it's like oh you know he had three rings because he played alongside LeBron and stuff like that but it's kind of hard to separate individual greatness especially when you're looking at it from a team sport so how do you value the fact that you know you want to run that you get to win a ring or you know in Dwayne's career you win three rings Etc like how does that work out well I I think you have to consider winning the championship no matter who you play with um because it's so hard to do no matter who you are just no matter how good you are you you have to put that in consideration you have to pay a lot of respect to that because it's one thing to have the talent but to put the talent together to get gas to mesh together and really make this work uh to get the ultimate goal when the title um I put a lot of you know yeah I put a lot of stock in there too um but Paul when he got his big three they won it you got to give Paul credit when he got his victory he won the title and they were very competitive like I think they got to the finals again after that after they won it and they were very competitive made deep runs that's what you want to do you don't want to waste those type of opportunities just like when I joined the Heat and we had all these guys with big names on our team we got the job done um you know we didn't make it you know obviously we didn't run off two or three of them that would have been nice but we got us one you put a team together with just a training camp to do this you switch coaches 20 change it to the season yeah but we had the strength in the mental mental fortitude to just actually lock in and and remember what the common goal was and that was when the NBA title uh we have our last segment it's called flash cards it's basically a lightning round quick questions um related to Dwyane Wade and some other things so first one Dwyane Wade's nicknames he's got approximately a billion of them here's a here's a few here's a few D Wade flash wow three and father Prime uh which one of those is the best nickname run them say it again now D Wade obviously Flash he gave himself wow at some point uh three and then the last one of his career was father Prime which one was the best nickname honestly I got it roll with Shaq I think flash I think that was it just kind of like when that hit and the way D Wade was playing at that time yeah he was you know obviously flying through the lane he was very explosive offensively dunking on people I think flash was the best one basketball reference also has Pookie written down on his list do you know what Pookie is for T Wade no that must be some yeah he really grew up in his neighborhood somebody might have called him that all right uh give us Antoine Walker's uh all-time shooting guard rankings you can get you can give us a top three four five whatever you want uh Michael one yeah um Kobe's two uh D Wade's three okay um Ray Allen's four oh hot tea um and five is uh Alan Iverson nice I put out an irishness that's a two guard for sure can you describe for our younger listeners I'm so glad you bring AI up obviously AI is um presenting Dwyane Wade into the Hall of Fame can you just tell our younger listeners like what guys like Allen Iverson and Dwyane Wade meant for the game their impact on the game itself obviously but also all the stuff in the culture around the game um I'll start with AI I think AI with AI and um he was the first pick in the draft but his size people don't understand for his size to his ability to be able to score the basketball at the level he did was a tremendous um and you may not never see another guy at that size score like that yeah um but it's hard um I think his whole bio I think you can't take away from what he went through um as a young kid um going to jail then have to go to Georgetown then make his way to lead to be the number one pick in the draft and live up to the height um and that was one of the most unbelievable finals that we've seen they got dominated but it was fun to watch I mean people would you know most people would have tuned that turned that off but it was fun to watch Allen Iverson get 40 and 50. against these guys and keep and keep a team that was under no that wasn't at the same level as the Lakers at that time right in the finals in game so I think that's where it it is with me with with Allen Iverson what's the second part to that question it was Dwyane Wade I just I mean I don't know if you know anything about him in ai's relationship uh why it is that uh no I didn't actually when I seen the way um he had a Hall of Fame party here last week and I was able to attend and obviously congratulate him I think y'all you guys know I think the Hall of Fame kind of makes it really tight don't let you bring a lot of people um so the way he wanted to do something for the people here in Chicago people that have been following them close friends and family so he had a nice Gathering last week so I was able to see him and congratulate him on the Hall of Fame and all that but um yeah but it's I just think you know I think it's two different players you know I mean when you talk about Ai and D Wade but also I think the way this has a lot of respect people don't understand how many people looked up to Allen Iverson because I you know technically Allen Iverson did it the way he wanted to do it on and off the court um and then when you see his size you like how's this little guy able to do this and do this half a pound right yeah um and so that's I think that that's what that stands at in and just so many of us have so much respect for Allen Iverson and D Wade is showing his respect for him he probably was somebody that he looked up to um somebody that he wanted to be like and I love that um because a lot of times you never get to know what player inspired another player yeah to be you know and and D Wade is showing a lot of respect to Allen Iverson having him come out last one and it's a fun one we really appreciate the time Antoine um you get Prime Dwyane Wade in your in your starting five you're gonna build a starting five but Prime Dwyane Wade has to be in it um you get four other current NBA players to fill out the rest of the lineup who are you picking uh wow it's pretty good you got me right there you caught me off guard a little bit but um obviously I'm gonna put LeBron James I have to put LeBron James on the team with him I just have I feel like too much respect for him yeah um I'll put Giannis at the four oh like that I like Gianna said before I like Joker at the five yeah oh yeah I like to and I'm struggling right now to give you a good point guard who I really like um but out of respect and and I love him and I got so many scores on this team already I'm gonna put Chris Paul nice wow it's a veteran group there this is some friends some friends and and Giannis and yo and Joker I like it a lot of chemistry on that team great Antoine Walker thanks so much uh for joining us we really appreciate it man um this was fun thank you thanks for having me guys

Channel: Locked On Heat

Views: 28,843

Keywords: NBA, Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo, Pat Riley, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Erik Spoelstra, Five Reasons Sports, Five on the floor, Miami Heat Beat, Dan Le Batard Show, Duncan Robinson, Miami Heat news, Miami Heat highlights, Tyler Herro Highlights, Kyle Lowry, Heat score, Wes Goldberg, David Ramil, Miami, Podcast, Heat

Id: HR9Z9OWA8B8

Length: 22min 49sec (1369 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 09 2023