3. Tracy McGrady, Houston: His inability to reach the second round of the playoffs is a significant blemish. But when he's healthy and at his best, few can play on his level. Facts are facts, though, and time is running out. Source: http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/10990447
. Dwyane Wade, Miami: He ranks second on this list for one reason and one reason only: He appears to be getting healthier while Manu Ginobili and Tracy McGrady appear to be wearing down What did D-Fake do last year and what did Tmac do?
So, according to CBS, we have the 2nd best C, the 3rd best SG and the 4th best SF. Then, it's time... I mean, get red.
And the fact that he has a ring! if he didn't I doubt he would be above Tmac Tmac vs. DWade (one on one) => Tmac
Wade is fully healthy heading into the season. He's in his physical prime. I don't know how anyone could justifiably rank him below McGrady at his position. I suspect it will be Kobe, Wade, and LeBron (and, maybe, Chris Paul) vying for the title of "best player in the league" this season. McGrady is simply not in that class. Not any longer.
Kobe? LeBron? Wade? Best player? I guess you didn't hear that this guy was making a comeback: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cvOm7dPS0Uw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cvOm7dPS0Uw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Kobe, Wade, and LeBron have proven their level of play for more than a few years. Paul's been an "MVP"-caliber player for one season.
Yeah that's what people say, but I am totally sold on the dude. He's only 23 and has improved every year. I put him in that group without much hesitation.
hahahhahaah holy cow how have I not seen that before??!? oh and no parenthesis are necessary around chris paul. he's absolutely legit.
I'm with you about Chris Paul. When a stellar player improves in both his 2nd and 3rd seasons the way he did, that's a good sign. In addition to his talent, I have no doubt Chris Paul is as dedicated to basketball as the other 3.
That just gave me an idea for putting some buzz back into the All Star Weekend. How about an 8 or 16 man 1 on 1 tournament? Games to 10 with 2s and 3s. Who wouldn't want to see that? Some intriguing match-ups like Dwight Howard versus T-mac. Who knows who'd win that?
STATISTICALLY speaking, a few in the top 10 might even have better numbers than McGrady. The only thing he has on the other guys is length and passing ability. I think he's ranked just about right.
He is better then AI, gino and etc, etc. but wade and kobe are infront. however a healthy mcgrady has shown he can be better then a healthy wade. if he plays like he did at the start of the year and like the game 5 and 6, he is on par with kobe.
McGrady should be at the 2nd spot, what the hell did Wade do lasy year? His team was the worst in the NBA. McGrady at least reached the playoffs and was able to win 2 games against the Jazz while playing on bad knee and shoulder. And we also gotta add Rockets did it in the Wild Wild West playing without Yao.
Disagree. A healthy Tmac brings consistent offense and occasional defense. A healthy Kobe brings consistent offense and consistent defense.
i thought he played phenomenal defense in the entire first round series last yr. hell every playoffs he has played ridiculous defense. it's the reg. season where he slacks off so you're right.
Wade played the entire season injured and still put up 24PPG/7PG/4RPG/2SPG on 47% shooting. With those injuries he averaged more points, assists, steals, blocks and shot a better % from both the field and FT line than T-Mac. He missed 31 games due to injury. All of this is why I do not put much heat on him for the Heat being the worst team in the league because T-Mac (a pretty-darn healthy one at that) led the Magic to the worst record in the league as well, a Lakers team led by an injured Kobe were a lottery team in 04-05, etc... No matter how good you are, injuries and a crap supporting cast is going to equal a high lottery number. But if you look at the last few years...Wade clearly has been the better player. He led his team deep into the playoffs ever since his rookie year. Without Shaq for most of the series he swept a Wizards team whie averaging 31/8/7 on 54% shooting. In the Finals he averaged 35/8/4 on 47% shooting. Against the Pistons in the ECF he shot 63% for the series. In 05-06 up until his injury near the end of the 06-07 season, he was putting up ridiculous stats (both in terms of box score stats and "clutch" stats...his clutch stats from those 2 years according to 82games.com were absolutely unbelievable). Oh, and he also made an All-NBA Defensive 2nd team. While last year was a bit dissapointing for him, his body of work is undeniable. And as the Olympics showed, he looks as good as ever heading into the season. Oh, and to people who say, "Well, when T-Mac is healthy..." Stop...just stop. The last time he was on the level of the top 3-5 in the league (where Wade currently is IMO) was in 04-05. Ever since then he has been missing a ton of games every year, and on top of that he has played about 80% or more each season injured. And his moments of greatness are not sustained...the closest was when Yao was out in 06-07, but he then reverted back to an entire month of 36% shooting when Yao did come back. T-Mac is still an incredible player and IMO severely underrated by many people...but he will never be the same player he was 04-05 or before, which is what it would take for there to be a reasonable arguement to take T-Mac over Wade. His ability to stay injury-free simply isn't there, his physical fitness isn't there and the mileage of 12 years of an injury-plagued career will continue to slowly deteriorate his scoring ability.
