There have always been conversations about winning a championship and being a star player. Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade is the most recent to give his take on the matter. In his career, Wade had the chance to lead the Heat to three titles while also being their best player. On Monday, a clip from his podcast, “Wy Network” showed his opinion about the matter.
In the clip, the former Heat star used an analogy of players being on different levels of a hotel that has 30 floors. According to him, players like Michael Jordan and Bill Russell have the access key to the top of the building. Wade, meanwhile, doesn’t have an access ley to the 30th floor. However, he thinks he’s close by and has an access key to the 25th floor.
Then, Wade said that players who have not or did not get to win a ring, it doesn’t make them less of a star player than those who have. It just means they don’t have the access key to certain floors of the 30-floor hotel he used as an example.
“So, if you have not won a ring, it doesn’t mean you’re not colder than somebody who won a ring,” Wade said. “You just don’t have access to go to the ring floors.
“I can have more stats if I didn’t care about winning a ring.”
D-Wade breaks down NBA greats with hotel floors with certain players having different access keys.😳 pic.twitter.com/FVqJGCer6U
— Wy Network (@wynetwork) March 31, 2025
“Winning a ring, it’s a whole different game than being a great player and having stats and having this and having that. I can have more stats if I didn’t care about winning a ring. This is a different conversation.”
In the league, there are star players who never got a chance to win a championship. While they’re still regarded as great players, they’re often left out in certain conversations because of their lack of a ring.
The Miami Heat legend said the ring culture ruins the argument for some star players
Because of the lack of championship rings, some players get overlooked. One of the players who tend to be forgotten in certain discussions is the close friend of the Miami Heat legend, Chris Paul.
Paul is in his 20th season in the NBA but has not won a title. However, he’s proven to be a winner, changing the cultures of the teams he’s joined. Even with that, fans don’t pay attention to it because he hasn’t won a title.
“We’re talking about individual,” the former Miami Heat star said. “What CP is doing, that’s still individual part of the game of basketball. What he’s doing from a standpoint of steal, assist, longevity. He’s been doing this for 20 years.
“Some people don’t go to that. Some people step outside of the win culture and you just go in and say, ‘He’s one of the greatest to ever play basketball.'”
“CP second on passing and steals [all-time]… but people are not trying to put him as one of the top point guards because he don’t have a ring.” @FamousLos32 thinks CP3 should still be in that conversation. Is CP3 a top point guard of All-Time? pic.twitter.com/BfxPrPS7QK
— Wy Network (@wynetwork) March 31, 2025
Paul has made a lasting impact in the league. However, most fans continue to ignore him because he hasn’t won.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
