http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-110105/daily-dime [rquoter] MIAMI -- LeBron James is wrong. Last week James, for rational reasons, said neither he nor Dwyane Wade could win the most valuable player award this season. As a point of fact, James said that an MVP for him or Wade "went out the window" when they signed with the Miami Heat. His case makes sense. Their numbers are lower than previous seasons and their presence on the same team not only will split some votes but also works against the formula of what a classic MVP is. James is still wrong -- or at the least half wrong. He probably won't win his third consecutive MVP, and there are several reasons for that. But Wade most certainly could win his first. Unlike the Heisman Trophy, the MVP rarely has a signature moment, a highlight that is shown over and over again that cements a player's status. In the NBA, a player often makes his case for MVP with cumulative performance, the result of game after game after game of being the difference. Even on a team loaded with talent as the Heat are, Wade is starting to assemble that type of portfolio. The latest example came on Tuesday night when he shook an average-looking game from the doldrums with another majestic fourth quarter to lead the Heat to a 101-89 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. Wade did it with his standard blend of grace, aggression, defense, speed and creativity that had the Bucks dropping their heads and his own teammates shaking theirs. The Heat have now won seven in a row and 19 of 20, which makes running over another sub-.500 Eastern Conference team seem uneventful. The game featured no single play that will make the year-end highlight reel and neither team did anything all that impressive. Yet Wade scored 17 of his 34 points in the fourth to turn a close game into a lopsided one. He's been doing that more and more lately. There was his huge fourth quarter in Houston last week on the way to 45 points. That is how MVP candidacies are built and Wade has been steadily adding to his resume. He's second in the league in fourth-quarter scoring at 6.5 points per game. Amare Stoudemire is first at 7.4, one of the reasons he's already in the MVP conversation. "Dwyane has been averaging like 50 points in the last five games," Bosh said after his own 19-point, 12-rebound effort. "We're just going to keep giving him the ball, keep getting him open and keep encouraging him to shoot it." Actually it is 35 points per game during the past five games, but it is more than just the scoring that is playing a role here. The Heat are now 28-9, right on the Boston Celtics' heels for the best record in the East. While there are certainly politics involved, being at the top of the standings makes a difference. Wade probably should have won his first MVP two years ago when he returned from an injury-plagued year to average 30.2 points, 7.5 assists and lead the Heat to 43 victories after they'd won just 15 the season before. But that seasib James won his first MVP, having led his Cavs to 66 wins. James probably should've earned his first the season before when he won the scoring title and carried a controversy-riddled Cavs team to 45 wins and nearly an upset of the champion Celtics in the second round. But that season Kobe Bryant won his first MVP, having led a renaissance in Los Angeles after the Pau Gasol trade. Bryant probably should've won his first award in 2006 when he flat-out carried to Lakers to 45 wins and back to the playoffs, averaging an amazing 35.6 points. The point of all that is, winning matters when it comes to the MVP. You can't just squeak into the playoffs. You have to win big all season long. And the Heat are winning big as the season nears the midway point. And Wade is carrying the Heat more often than his one-third share would dictate. James' sheer numbers are actually slightly better. But as the two-time champ who switched teams in the offseason, James is unlikely to impress media voters for a third consecutive season. Wade also has sentiment on his side. He is the spiritual leader of the team, which is why the crowds at AmericanAirlines Arena save the foul-line "MVP" chants only for him and not for the actual two-time MVP who is on the team. Plus there's the off-the-court aspect and, no, that doesn't mean NBA Cares work. It may not seem like it should matter but it does. Wade played a large role in recruiting both Bosh and James to Miami, then getting them to accept pay cuts to make room for Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem. Actually, Wade took the biggest cut of them all, accepting $500,000 less than James and Bosh this season alone. They may not look at it this way, but in essence Wade is virtually signing some of his teammates' checks. Unless he can share in Pat Riley's likely forthcoming honor as executive of the year, Wade's efforts to create his team probably should have some value in the race for most valuable. There's a great deal of basketball to be played and health to maintain. There are several big names already lining up support for the MVP honor, including Dirk Nowitzki and Stoudemire. But taking Wade's name out of the running for MVP, as James and likely quite a few others might have done already, because he plays for the team America enjoys hating may prove to be more than shortsighted. It might be a big mistake. [/rquoter]
Ehh, i think Brian Scalabrine deserves the MVP award for his face up jumper he hit in someones face with like 17 seconds in the blowout win against the raptors tonight. It nearly brought tears to my eyes.
Wade Time in Crunch Time Among the big three, Dwyane Wade gets the least time to himself out on the court. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Wade the Tuesday night’s game having played only 49 minutes on the season without LeBron James or Chris Bosh on the floor compared to James’ 234 minutes and Bosh’s 51. And there may be good reason for it; the Heat had been outscored 97-101 over those 49 minutes when Wade got the spotlight. Tuesday, Wade had the opportunity to reverse the trend at a critical juncture and he took advantage. Coming out for the fourth quarter with the Heat up only three points, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra sent out Wade with a unit that didn’t feature James or Bosh, and Wade took the game into his own hands during the next four minutes. He started things off by pump-faking a long jumper and drawing a crucial three-shot foul against Chris Douglas-Roberts. That sparked a 17-point fourth quarter for Wade that sealed the victory, while bringing him closer to league’s highest point total in the final frame (only Amare Stoudemire has more fourth-quarter points, according to ESPN Stats & Information). no wade should not garner more votes than lebron. but lebron's stats are down from last 2 years (when his stats were historic) so it's "easier" to not give it to him (although his #s will continue to rise). the ball is in lebron's hands almost every play. he gets 6-7 minutes of lebron time every game and they don't miss a beat. and i have repeated this many times: the best perimeter defender has ALWAYS been on lebron when the two are on the court together. ALWAYS. who has it easier offensively?
I was watching that Heats v Bucks game, Wade just flat out have that innate ability to get into the lane and make plays. You never know, Wade might just get the MVP award as a career achievement award.
He is at the peek age in his career to be perfect physically and to have obtained enough veteran play to be completely lethal, BUT Lebron is younger and will have more experience under his belt at Wade's current age than Wade does(Kobe also came out of HS). Lebron is more valuble... but Wade's play is just as valuble as Lebron's right now..
Wade out performs Lebron constantly. He shoots better now. He's unstoppable at times. I never thought I'd say this but Wade is only behind Kobe now in top 3 SG in history.
If you want the Heat games constantly, you should see that Lebron is clearly the best player on that team.
They're both dominant players with different roles. LeBron is there to set other people up and Wade is there to stick a stake through your heart. LeBron has more playmaking responsibility on the team, it's why he's the only Big 3 player who regularly gets time on the court by himself. I think LeBron is more irreplaceable and valuable, but Wade is just as effective in his role.
Despite this tear that Wade has been on lately, for the season, he's only averaging two-tenths of a point per game more than Lebron. Lebron does a lot more than Wade as a playmaker, faces the other team's best perimeter defender more, and the team is better with Lebron on the court without Wade than the other way around.
Wade is only behind Kobe? So he's the 2nd best SG in history? Or do you mean that he's behind MJ and Kobe?
Wade is a great player. I would rather have him on my team then LBJ. I think Wade has more of an impact on a team then what LBJ does. Don't get me wrong, LBJ can put up stats with the best of them but he's not a clutch player like Wade is. I've seen Wade his clutch shots after clutch shots. LBJ has like one clutch shot and I forgot who he did that to in the playoffs. I'm not trying to dismiss LBJ at all because he is a great player in his own right.
I actually like Wade a lot more than LeBron as a person. But no, he is not better than LeBron as a player. LeBron could score like Wade if he wanted to. Wade couldn't make plays like LeBron.
