Dwyane Wade Reveals to Steph Curry How He Earned Kobe Bryant's Respect

Dwyane Wade and Steph Curry got together on Friday night for a cook-off and a little conversation, called The Wine Down Cookoff.

During the Instagram Live session, Wade touched on his career, particularly recalling the moment he knew he had made it because Kobe Bryant began guarding him over the entire court.

“We was playing against Kobe. I remembered when Kobe first picked me up at 94 feet. Because at first, he would pick me up underneath the 3-point line...and let me shoot,” Wade explained at the 23:00 minute mark. “So the moment guys start picking me up [at] 94 feet because they didn’t want me to touch the basketball, that’s the moment where I was like, ‘I got their respect now.’”

He continued, “It wasn’t that I couldn’t shoot, it’s just the fact that I remember being at the 3-point line a lot and I’m like, ‘I’m not a 3-point shooter. Why are guys guarding me...at the 3-point line? Let me shoot it.’ But the thing is they didn’t want me to touch the ball because when I touch the ball, either I was gonna score or I was gonna create the opportunity for one of my teammates. That’s when I knew that the respect was there.”

Later during the conversation, Wade and Curry also discussed the 2020 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. “Aaron [Gordon] should’ve won,” Curry said around the 51:10 mark.

“From that dunk or period?” Wade asked. “That dunk was not his best but he should have won,” Curry responded. “He had the better body of work, so I understand the dilemma. I just know Aaron Gordon should have won.”

“Right, but we’re talking about the last dunk,” Wade continued. “Would you have given him a nine or a 10? ‘Cause up until that point, I gave Aaron Gordon a 10 every time.”

Curry said, “Honestly, I would’ve been biased and I would have said, ‘Yeah, he got a 10.’ I gotta make sure he wins.”

Derrick Jones Jr. ended up winning the dunk contest, which was judged by Dwyane Wade, Scottie Pippen, Candace Parker, Common, and Chadwick Boseman.