WADE FEARS LITTLER COULD QUIT DESPITE ‘BEST EVER’ POTENTIAL
08/06/2026 By Aaron Nijjar
JAMES WADE fears Luke Littler could walk away from darts despite having the talent to become the greatest player in history.
The Machine made the astonishing claim after Littler admitted he came close to quitting the sport following months of boos and jeers from crowds across Europe.
Wade believes Littler could rewrite the darts record books but has questioned whether the teenage superstar still has the appetite to do so.
He said: “I would say Luke, at the moment, is probably the second-best player that has ever walked the planet.
“He has been doing it for a couple of years, which is not long to be doing it.
“Don’t get me wrong, he is pulled from pillar to post a lot. I’m not sure how much he wants to do it.
“That’s what I feel with Luke. If he wants to, he can go and win everything and do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, because he is that good.
“If he keeps going, he is going to be the best player ever. But I’m not sure he really wants to do it so much.
“Maybe it’s because he has done it all. He has completed it all already, hasn’t he?”
Wade admitted he was shocked to hear Littler speak so openly about feeling worn down by life at the top.
He added: “I was surprised when he said he doesn’t want to do it and that he was really tired of it all.
“I would say, for him, it is not the darts; it is the media side of things because he is pulled all over the place all the time.
“That is probably what is exhausting him, not the darts.”
Wade has enjoyed a glittering career since joining the PDC in 2004, winning 11 major titles — the fourth-highest tally in the sport’s history.
Yet world No.1 Littler has already surpassed that total with 13 major crowns and needs only the European Championship and World Cup to complete darts’ full set of televised titles.
Image by Taylor Lanning.
