I say NO WAY! See, Marquette's my school, so I really love Dwyane Wade and all... he's a really great player, and he's even a humble human being on top of it. But soooo many people, such as one of my roommates, believe he's better than Lebron, or at least will be eventually. And of course, it's gotten much worse since the Heat won the title. And maybe I'm just getting paranoid from hearing it from Marquettians all the time, but I think this sentiment is spreading nationwide. Seems like Wade is practically all you hear about anymore. IMO, if a trade of Wade-for-Lebron were proposed, here's what would happen: Miami would consider it carefully. Possibly accept, possibly not. Wade is THEIR franchise player after all. He brought the city a championship, he's popular, he's a gentleman. It would be tough to give him up. Cleveland would laugh. Am I the only one who feels this way? Don't get me wrong, Wade is GREAT. Really, really great. But Lebron is the best player in this league, IMO. It's not his fault he doesn't have Wade's supporting cast.
Wade's ability to close out games is probably the best in recent years and maybe only comparable to Melo. Wade will win most games for you in the last minutes like a Monster Superstar. Similar to Airness. Lebron shows he's more an incredible and way better Scottie pippen who is only slowly closing out games like Jordan use to. Maybe in another year, LBJ will just crush teams in the clutch, but that is the only thing separating them. That said, If i was miami, I would trade for LBJ
If by "heart" you mean having the luxury of being on a much better squad than Lebron's, one that features two hall of famers and a bevy of alternative scoring options to take pressure off you.
This is a tough one but I hate it when people say LeBron is on another level than Wade when really I think they are equal. Wade does many things better than LeBron like playing defense, taking over games in the 4th quarter,and finding a will to win. While on the other hand LeBron is a better rebounder and 3 pt. shooter. Ithink LeBron will be the better player but might be ranked lower than Wade in the end because Wade just knows how to win.
I would take Lebron. He took a team without a valid 2nd option and took Detroit to the limit-- and he almost single-handedly beat Washington. Wade has a better team, and he is one of the best players in the league, but if I had to choose, Lebron's combination of size,ball-handling, passing, rebounding, and 3-point shooting make him my pick.
I think LeBron is a slightly better player than Wade. LeBron isn't next level, he has many weaknesses, we're not talking a Roger Federer type clear dominance over everybody else, he can be attacked on the defensive end and his jump shot is incredibly inconsistant. Wade is very turnover prone and should be forced into taking outside shots more often if a team wishes to take him out of a game, his ability to create for his teammates isn't as good as LeBrons, and he often finds himself in the air with nowhere to go or no one to go to. Both players have alot of heart, being more successful doesn't mean you have more heart, heart is defined by how you play, not the results. Both are great scorers, average defenders (non existant for the King, really) but its James' playmaking/court vision and handles that sets him apart from Flash.
I think it depends on the particular teams needs. Lebron makes people better but he can't close out games the way Wade can at this point.
Lebron in a heartbeat, he does everything better than wade but defense. Lebron as we were well aware turned into a clutch monster during the latter stages of the season and continued into the playoffs. He took a few no names to 7 games against the pistons when everyone though it'd be over in 5. Individually Lebron is miles ahead but wade does have that finals mvp. However, What lebron has done with his team is much more impressive to me then what d-wade has done with one of the best coaches of all time, the mde, the best back up center in the league who could start and some great role players. Lebron> Wade.
Lebron is the more sexy choice. But if I were the coach of a team which had both of these two great players and I had to pick one of them to take the last shot to win a game, I'd go with Wade. Lebron may (or may not) become the clutchest player in the history of NBA one day. But that is the decision I would make today. I know I am the minority here. So please don't flame me.
Why would anyone flame you? Anyways i'd take wade also in these current days because as we saw in the finals, anyone who touches wade gets called for a a foul. He is also more reliable from the line even though lebron was money from the stripe later on in the year.
well yeah if we're just talking about one shot at the end, i might take wade, but lebron is the better player right now, and he is certainly not unclutch. he had two game winners in the washington series (even if he traveled like crazy on the first one), has hit a few others this year, and has also had at least 2 passes to set up corner 3's that won games for cleveland after the entire defense collapsed on him. plus he and wade had that duel earlier this year where lebron had something like 46/11/10 and wade had 41/9/8 and both tore up the 4th quarter and lebron ended up coming out on top in that one with several big plays down the stretch. in the future, lebron will definitely be better than wade. no one can match up with lebron's physical skills plus his head is on straight, he knows how to involve teammates, and his jumper is solid. if his D ever picks up, it'll be downright unfair, though it basically already is.
Wait, Wade is even in this conversation? I thought he was the most overrated player in the NBA? Isn't he just Steve Francis Lite?
I rememeber that "most overrated" comment about Wade. I guess that theory got blown to bits. Remember before the playoffs when some people were saying LeBron wasn't clutch? LeBron is better and I would take him over Wade. His one man show against the Pistons was something to behold. Wade is higher up on my favorite player list but LeBron is better. IMO, put Wade on the Cavs and they aren't as good; put LeBron on the Heat and they are at least as good. Whether LeBron would have gone ballistic in the Finals (like Wade) we'll never know.
I've called him Steve Francis 2.0. He has the same skills as Francis and the same weaknesses, it's just his skills are better than Stevie's. As a skill set, Wade is way down the list of guards that I would pick as a franchise player. His only consistent threat is that he can finish around the rim with either hand as well as anyone in the league. He's a good defender, but he still jumps at pump fakes and takes a few too many chances. His shot runs the gamut from good to attrocious. Announcers and casual fans gush over his ball-handling, but it's marginal at best. He makes a lot of stupid mistakes with the ball and it translates in to a ridiculous number of turnovers for a Pat Riley-style offense. His pinpoint passing is incredible to watch, but often he doesn't make the "right" pass. His go to move is to drive into players. It works because he's strong, quick enough that they don't always get set, and with the Heat winning, he gets all the calls that could go either way. But it's got to be hard on his body in the long run. The league is only slightly more friendly to guards that have more athleticism than skill than it is to big ment that have more athleticism than skill. Now that I've put his skills in perspective, I'll go to the intangibles. They are the best in the league. He is fearless. He gets better with pressure, he is very coachable, and he is easily the hardest working young player in the league. He is a winner, which is a way overused term, but it fits here. When a 75% free throw shooter hits 19 (or however many) in a row in a critical game, that's clutch no matter your definition. I still don't know if I would pick him to be my franchise player, but I love watching the guy play. I'm definitely glad Miami committed to him.
I think the thing that seperates Wade from Francis, is heart.... and Wade is willing to carry superstars, fall on his face, and get back up. Francis couldn't carry a hodgepoge of talent, without fear of failure... he even had his own personal cheerleader(Mobley), and couldn't find the will or desire to lead..... If I had Wade on my team, I wouldn't trade him for Lebron...... if I'm starting from scratch, I'll choose Lebron, if I can't get both.
At this point I wouldn't trade him for anyone either. But if I'd pick Kobe, LeBron, McGrady, Gilbert Arenas, and Carmelo before him.
C'mon now, this isn't fair at all. Nobody that ever had half a clue what they were talking about ever criticized Francis' passion and desire for the game. He was a strong competitor that really wanted to win. Wade/Francis or comparing Wade as a rich man's Francis make sense to me. They do both have similar strengths/weaknesses but the difference is Wade's decision making, defense and ability to close out games that him apart from a good but not great player like Francis. As for the original argument, LeBron is only 21-years-old and you could already make a case for him being the best player in the league. That sheer fact is remarkable and choosing that even over a champion like Wade still seems like the better move to me despite LeBron's tendency to disappear in the clutch.
