I love what he said. It's the truth. Most guys come out with that.. Oh we need to play harder, watch th film and get back to practice. He's the best player in the world and He should win the NBA finals mvp without question..in fact, the NBA should personally thank him for making this series watchable. Without him they lose by 30+ every game. Didn't be assist on 48 of 50 1H points for Cleveland last night?? UNBELIEVABLE!
LeBron has been the best player in the NBA for almost his whole career. I still say they only made the Finals because the East is trash, but carrying a shallow team with no other real offensive threats (unless you count that moron JR Smith) to the Finals is still impressive. At least four teams in the West could've beaten them in a seven game series. That being said, although it looks great for the Warriors now, who knows. Maybe Curry reverts to his earlier series form and starts turning it over again and missing lots of shots.
I was thinking about that to myself the other day. At what point was he unanimously considered the best in the world?
He's been the best player in the league for eight years or so, but many refused to call him so, because they foolishly considered him to be a choker and a loser; his dissappearence against Dallas in the Finals, didn't help either. It was a toss up for many between Kobe(who wasn't even better than Dwight Howard in his prime or Prime Wade) and LeBron, until LeBron won in 2012. Around 2012, is when everyone agreed he was the best in the world- even his haters.
Talk about a Miami homer. Kobe was far better than prime Wade. Everyone agrees on that expect some extreme Heat homers. Kobe was also better than Howard. The only thing Wade has on Kobe is that he broke Kobe's nose with a cheap shot in an All Star Game (probably because he's always been jealous of Kobe). it's LeBron, then Kobe, then probably Duncan for the modern era. I'm not sure if Wade cracks the top five. Nothing close to Wade's title without LeBron (vs. Dirk's Mavs). They called a foul nearly every time he drove. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/167334-ill-say-it-im-glad-dwyane-wade-is-out-of-the-nba-playoffs
No, many many people have told me that Wade's first ten years WAS on par with Kobe's. Kobe gets him from a historical perspective, but Wade was such a monster defensively in his prime and even Kobe couldn't touch that. His 08 09 season was one for the ages , and although Kobe's stats were slightly better in 06, he wasn't nearly the defensive player Wade was. Wade at his peak was on par with Kobe his peak(the stats back this up)... just about everyone I've spoken too (not Heat fans), agree with me. Kobe was the better scorer and he was more skilled , but Wade was the superior defensive player, passer, and ball handler when it came to PNRS. Wade took a roster that won fifteen games, and lead them to forty seven wins in a decent East. I'd rank Kobe ahead of Wade, due to longevity, but the idea that Kobe was far better than Wade in his prime is completely false. And I'd take Duncan over Kobe any day of the week...
Had the Heat had normal LeBron, that would have been a quick five game series. And had we won, Wade would have received another Finals MVP award and just maybe maybe he would be acknowledged as the all time great playee, that he once was.
Who are these "many many" people that you talk to? Only people I see claiming Wade was a on par or a better player(either overall or in their primes) are Heat homers. To say that Wade was a better defensive player is even more laughable. Kobe is a 9 time NBA All-Defensive First team selection. Many of those years, Kobe was selected over Wade for the SG position. Wade was never selected for the First team in his career. But Kobe isn't nearly the defensive player, okay
All Defensive teams are voted upon by the media- the same people who consider DeAndre Jordan to be an elite rim protector, the same people who evaluate defense based off of reputation, and the same people that gave Derrick Rose an MVP award. Kobe was selected to all those defensive teams, because of his reputation and the fact that his teams were on National thirty times a year, certainly played a role as well .If you don't think Wade at his absolute peak was on par with Kobe that's up to you, but I've spoken to several Laker fans and NBA fans in general who consider Wade's 08 09 season to be otherworldly and they also believe he was just as good as Kobe at his peak; the stats also back this up, but yeah you continue to say that Kobe in his prime was far better than Dwight or Wade in his prime. It's amazing what a few rings can do for an individual. I never once said I'd rank Wade above Kobe from a historical perspective (due to longevity ), but to say Kobe was vastly superior to those two in his prime is asinine.
I'm just rooting for a Cavs win tonite so we can have a Game 7. That would be incredibly entertaining. _
Translation: Wade is a better defensive player because I said so. The All-Defensive First team award doesn't align with your argument so you discredit the award, got it. I guess that a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters for 12 straight seasons, missed the defensive "monster" Wade and not even once selected him for the First team and gave it to Kobe instead because of reputation and some other excuses you came up with . Kobe being a media favorite is a new one to me though.
Translation : the media's voting when it comes to these awards is a joke. I've descredited the process many many times and that's why I couldn't care less about regular season MVP awards or DPOY awards. But hey you're the same guy who said Wade wasn't on par with Kobe in his prime, despite the stats stating otherwise. And Kobe has always been popular(I never saidhe was a favorite ) ...he played in the second largest market, for arguably the greatest franchise in the league, and he helped lead several teams to championships. That reputation is how a player, such as Kobe can continue to win awards such as All Defensive first team, when he's not deserving of it. But lets not change the topic (like you're attempting too), how was Kobe in his prime far better than Wade in his prime? The stats say Wade was on par with Kobe and in fact , it says that he was more efficent than Kobe.
Agreed on all points. Not even debatable. It's like when Bill Simmons wants to pretend Paul Pierce is an all-time great, and his reasoning for it is because Pierce is his favorite player. Wade was a very good player in his prime. He was never the best in the NBA and he is definitely not an all-time great (say top 25) player.
