With how much their careers were connected, it's only right that Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade enter the Basketball Hall of Fame together.

And as the two prepare to be enshrined in hoops lore in Springfield, Massachusetts on Aug. 12, a once fierce rivalry has turned into mutual admiration between the two all-time greats and champions.

While appearing on NBA insider Marc Stein's "The Saturday Stein Line" podcast Saturday, Nowitzki acknowledged that while he and Wade won't be having sleepovers anytime soon, their prior beef is a thing of the past (24:00 in podcast).

"I wouldn't say we're friends," Nowitzki said. "I think there's a mutual sense of respect for each other's career and obviously were cordial. ... There's no bad blood, obviously, anymore. We all moved on, things were said on both sides or done that neither side liked, but that's part of competition at the highest level.

"... So, are we friends? No, we don't text each other but there's a lot of respect there and we're both happy to go into the Hall of Fame together."

Wade and Nowitzki's career-long rivalry began in the 2006 NBA Finals. Holding a commanding 2-0 lead over the Miami Heat, Nowitzki looked well on his way to an NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks.

But a 24-year-old Wade was not ready to go out like that and instead led the Heat to its first title in franchise history with an incredible Finals MVP performance, averaging 34.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists as Miami won the series in six games.

It'd be far from the end of the story, however.

Nowitzki's revenge came just a few years later in the first season of Miami's historic "Big Three" squad of Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh in 2011. The two teams met in the Finals once again and even included a bit more trash talk on the side Wade and James, who mocked Nowitzki's 102-degree fever in Game 4 of the series.

This time, it was Nowitzki who closed out the Heat in six games and winning Finals MVP while putting up 26 points, 9.7 rebounds and two assists per game.

But those days are far behind the pair now, both retiring at the end of the 2018-19 season.

Now, the Mavericks legend is just excited for the opportunity to share the stage with his former rival one last time.

"We sat together with his family during one of the dinners, and we talked," Nowitzki told The Dallas Morning News. "And so I think it's going to be great. I think there's a lot of mutual respect there now.

"I know we've gone through some stuff in our careers, but at the end of the day not everybody you compete against at the highest level can be friends. It's just not how it works.

Ironically, Nowitzki will also be entering the hall with a couple of his former in-state adversaries in Gregg Popovich and Tony Parker, with whom he had several legendary battles when the Mavs took on the San Antonio Spurs.