As a young basketball prodigy, matriculating from high school in a Chicago suburb to a college career at Marquette, Dwyane Wade decided he wanted to “handle like” Allen Iverson and “I wanted to play like” Kobe Bryant.

“No question, for me, Kobe was one of my role models,” Wade said last week.

Bryant later became a friend, too, a relationship borne out of mutual respect, shared experiences and the bond from being U.S. Olympic teammates.

On Wednesday night at Staples Center, Wade is set to play against the soon-to-be retiring Bryant for the 20th and final time, when the Heat begins a three-game Western road swing against the Lakers. Bryant is coming off his most lopsided loss as a Laker, 123-75 to Utah. [UPDATE: The Lakers list Bryant as questionable with a sore right shoulder.]

“It has been a treat for me for so many years to be able to stack myself up against him and compete against him,” said Wade, whose team won 11 of the first 19 meetings with Bryant. “I look forward to my last moment.”

Since Michael Jordan’s retirement, Bryant and Wade have become the pre-eminent shooting guards of their era, combining for eight championships (three for Wade), 30 All-Star appearances and more than 50,000 points.

Bryant is third on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, with well over 30,000 points. Wade is 39th, having recently topped 20,000.

"I do feel -- and I've said this before the last couple of years with LeBron [James], when he became the best player in our game – that Kobe Bryant is the greatest player of our era," Wade said earlier this season.

"The Kobe Bryants aren't around no more. There are good young players, but there will never be another Kobe. So every opportunity you get to [face him], you want to seize that moment."

Though the two never met in an NBA Finals, their relationship had to survive the soap-opera fallout of Shaquille O’Neal’s trade to the Heat and Shaq’s subsequent criticism of Bryant, and Wade’s hard foul that inadvertently broke Bryant’s nose in the 2012 All-Star Game.

Bryant never harbored any ill feelings about that, noting afterward: "He's a nicer guy than I am, to be honest with you. He's just not the type of person who would intentionally do something like that."

Wade joked earlier this season: “I mean, I broke the guy's nose in the All-Star Game, for goodness sake, and we're still cordial. He respects competitiveness. He's a competitor. I'm competitive. We have that in common. No matter what he's done, no matter how many championships he's won, he's still the most competitive guy in the gym.

"It's something I want to emulate. No matter how many great young talents come in, you still want to be respected. It's not easy to go through it, to be as great as he is and be picked apart [by critics]. You go through so many evolutions in your game, but you're still here, no matter what.”

Wade’s favorite Kobe memory?

He cites their first meeting, when he stole the ball from Bryant late in a 99-77 Lakers win, in Los Angeles, in November 2003.

“It was so not a meaningful moment in basketball history at all,” Wade said. “We were getting our butt kids. They had [Gary Payton], Karl Malone and Shaq. It was the second half, late in the game. I had two fouls early so I didn't play much.

“Then I got an opportunity the first time guarding Kobe, my first time in transition. I was so, like, nervous. But I ripped him. For me, that was it. That was the holy grail. Then I went down and scored. Inside I felt so good. It didn't mean nothing to him. They were up by 30 or 40. But to me it meant the world.”

There were two especially neat moments earlier this season:

• On Nov. 9, the night before the Heat visited the Lakers, Wade was walking through the Heat’s training room, en route to the cold tub, when he saw Bryant already sitting in the tub.

As ESPN’s Rachel Nichols reported on TNT at the time, it was the first time in Wade’s 13 seasons that Pat Riley allowed an opposing player “into the inner sanctum like that,” and Wade was shocked, but pleasantly so. The two had a long conversation, and Bryant asked Wade if his sons were coming to the game the next day.

Wade said no, because it was a school night. Bryant said: “You know what, bring them, I think it’s going to be my last time here.’” Wade obliged, and his sons took pictures with Kobe after the game.

• On the night before the All-Star Game, Wade, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony honored Bryant at a private dinner.

“We said a lot of great things, and he appreciated that,” Wade told reporters afterward. “We wanted to pay homage. We all at one point in our life wanted to be Kobe in our driveway somewhere. It’s crazy to say that, but we watched him growing up. Even though he’s only three years older than me, he’s been in the league seven years more than me.

“We got a chance to share moments with him and talk about games we played against each other and what we was thinking and got to hear his take on it. We got to show our respect. I think it meant a lot to him.”

Some players have asked Bryant for a memento when they play against him for a final time, such as a pair of sneakers.

“I'm trying to think of something different,” Wade said this week. “I'm going to ask him for something. It's crazy it's our last time playing him and we're asking him for something. But it's been cool.”

HEAT NOTES

Wade scored 30 against the Nets on Monday and ended up scoring 109 points in his four games against Brooklyn, an average of 27.3. Per Elias, it's the first time that he has scored 100 points against one team in a season since he produced 119 points in four games against the Magic in the 2011-12 season.

• With four dunks Monday and 11 in the past two games, Hassan Whiteside now has 133, behind only DeAndre Jordan, Dwight Howard, Anthony Davis and Nerlens Noel.

But Whiteside has missed only three dunks and his shooting percentage on dunks is better than nearly every big man in the league.While Jordan has dunked 205 times, he has missed 19.

DOLPHINS VISIT

As the Houston Chronicle's Aaron Wilson reported, University of Houston cornerback William Jackson is visiting the Dolphins today. Though some draft analysts have Jackson rated in the 20s, he certainly cannot by any means be ruled out as an option at 13.

Jackson had five interceptions last season.

Here was Pro Football Focus' assessment of him:

"William Jackson may be the best cornerback available in the 2016 NFL draft. With FSU star Jalen Ramsey more of a moveable chess piece on defense than he is a true cornerback, Jackson is at the top of the class and is likely to make a case for himself at the combine.

"At 6-1 and around 190 pounds, Jackson fits the size and shape profile that NFL teams covet, in a draft where more than one of the other top prospects — Mackenzie Alexander (Clemson) and Vernon Hargreaves (Florida) — do not.

"Jackson was PFF’s second-highest graded cornerback in coverage this season, and second only to Ramsey in overall grade when play against the run is thrown into the equation. He was targeted 93 times this past season, allowing only 46 catches (49.5 percent). He had five interceptions and 12 pass breakups, allowing a passer rating of just 57.9 when thrown his way.

"Jackson does seem to have some mental lapses during games, occasionally seeming confused with motion and route combinations designed to force him into a quick decision. However, when he can just line up and play coverage against a receiver he demonstrates high-level ability and an almost limitless potential.

"Some will question the level of competition he faced at Houston, but if one takes a look at just his numbers against Power-5 competition, his numbers actually improved. He didn’t allow a touchdown against any of those teams and the passer rating when he was thrown at fell to just 31.8."

Twitter: @flasportsbuzz