A year ago, it seemed that the Miami Heat were just at the beginning of a long rebuilding era. A past his prime, but still effective Shaq had been traded away, and a past his prime, but still fiercely competitive and gutsy Alonzo Mourning had gone down with a serious knee injury. Most disturbingly for Heat fans, however was that it was beginning to look like the best days for Dwyane Wade were behind him. He was still putting up numbers (24 ppg & 7 apg), but he never seemed like “Flash” during that entire season. The explosiveness that defines his game just wasn’t there and it really looked getting knocked to the floor time and time again was taking its toll on his body. Fielding what was truly one of the worst teams in NBA history at the end of 07-08, Miami shut down D-Wade for the final quarter of the season to undergo knee treatment. I remember wondering if his career would take on a Penny Hardaway look, after the knee injuries, and if he would ever be the same again.
Like everyone else, the next time I saw D-Wade play was during the Olympics. I wrote a post covering Team USA’s dismantling of Greece and as I sit here I don’t remember the specifics of the game at all, I couldn’t tell you what Kobe or Lebron did, but I vividly remember thinking that D-Wade was everywhere, was doing everything, and was absolutely the best player on the floor. And his performance the other night (48 & 12 ast), capped by this play to win the game was amazing:
A quick look at the numbers gives plenty of support to the D-Wade for MVP argument. He scores more with a higher shooting percentage (29.7 & 49.5%) than Lebron (28.1 & 48.8%) or Kobe (27.8 & 47.2%) and for my money is a better defender than either of them. I doubt D-Wade will get votes for MVP because his team isn’t on par with the Lakers or Cavs, but to me, if you are looking for the best player in the league right now, he’s not in Cleveland or LA.
Image Source: Buzzlinker
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I am not sure if Wade definitely gets the MVP, but he sure does deserve a heck of alot of consideration. He has been spectacular this year.
Also, Coach Spoelstra deserves the Coach of the Year trophy. He has had to play two rookies significant minutes and gets major minutes from Joel Anthony as well.
D-Wade definitely deserves the award if the award was given to truly the most valuable and not simply the best player on one of the best teams. Lebron plays w/ another all-star and so does Kobe. I’m not sure I could name Miami’s starting lineup yet Wade has them in the thick of the playoffs. If he could only stop rocking the double knee pad look then I’d stop viewing him as a YMCA all-star..
One thing is for certain. Wade, Lebron, and Kobe are in a league of their own. And they’re not playing women’s baseball…
I’m still not convinced that Wade is the best player in the league right now. He is one of the top 3 for sure, but not in the top 2. The top 2 should be LeBron and Kobe in no particular order.
And that was one lucky shot, a good one though.
If I had to start a team tomorrow and build around a guy not named LeBron, I’d pick Samuel Dalembert. Wait, I’d pick Dwyane Wade. Chris Paul would be second.
I think that wade deserves it ;;
If you see kobe && James prety much have some team mates to help them.