Crazy how minor things can change everything (Wade)

[ScalsFan21]

If D-Wade had not injured his ribs and been forced to miss Game 6 of the 2005 ECF (and then been noticeably hobbled by the same injury in Game 7), you can't say it was a lock, but there was a very strong chance they would've beaten Detroit that year. Obviously that would've led to a Heat/Spurs final, which could've been possibly an ATG series (not that the Pistons-Spurs one wasn't incredible in its own right).

If Wade had pulled off that championship, and then still won it the next year, it would've been something that really hasn't been pulled off much ever (2 rings as the man in first 3 seasons). He did have the best 1B probably possible at that time considering Shaq nearly beat out Nash for MVP in '05, but Wade was still arguably lead dog that year, and in '06 and beyond he was the clear-cut lead dog.

The reality is he'd be a consensus top 10-15 player ever had injuries not derailed his career, if not higher. CLEAR CUT top 3 SG all-time as it stands all things considered. Two-way god on the court and in terms of accolades, who knows how much he would have been able to accomplish if he was able to stay healthy really?

If you would have told me after Wade beat the Mavs in '06 that he would probably never win a single playoff series as the man again and would likely end up retiring with only 2 more Robin-type rings, I would've told you you're an idiot, but then been really annoyed about it too. I know you could say this about a lot of players but for some reason I was thinking about the things Wade really could have done to this league... peak Wade I'll always remember as one of the best players ever.

[3ball]

In the 2005 ECF, Damon Jones cost the Heat a trip to the Finals - he had 2 amazing blunders down the stretch - all he had to do was pass the ball BACK IN to Shaq who was re-posting and on fire, but he opted to take it himself, which flushed the game (and series) down the toilet.

Heat likely win the Finals that year (since Shaq owns Duncan, and Spurs have nobody to guard Wade).

[ShaqTwizzle]

Yup... crazy what could have happened.
Let us say Miami pulls it off in 05 with Wade winning FMVP and then everything else happens the same except Lebron plays better in 2011 and Wade wins another FMVP.

He could realistically have ended up with 5 Rings & 3 FMVP... and you wouldn't even really have to change much.

:eek: :eek: :eek:

[Marchesk]

He could realistically have ended up with 5 Rings & 3 FMVP... and you wouldn't even really have to change much.

Damn, he could have replaced Kobe in the top 10.

[robby712]

And that's without thinking that he had to take out his meniscus because repairing it would've hurt his draft stock. He was Flash with one bad knee from the get go. He had bad teams in his peak 08-10. The injury against Detroit. LBJ playing way sub-par in 2011.

This is why judging players mostly by rings is bullshit. Judging them by analyzing their performance on a very good team with the right circumstances to win, yes. What if Jordan played for the Blazers? What if Pippen does't get to Chicago? What if Robinson doesn't get injured and Duncan does not end up on the Spurs? What if KG isn't injured in 2009? And so on..Circumstances matter the most.

Staying on topic, Wade is one of, if not the most underrated player. He has achieved some incredible things considering he came into the league at 22 with a bad knee, had a lot of bad luck and shit teams at his peak. Yes, he is my favorite player of all time and I am biased but he basically resurrected a franchise that was dead at the moment.

[DoctorP]

If D-Wade had not injured his ribs and been forced to miss Game 6 of the 2005 ECF (and then been noticeably hobbled by the same injury in Game 7), you can't say it was a lock, but there was a very strong chance they would've beaten Detroit that year. Obviously that would've led to a Heat/Spurs final, which could've been possibly an ATG series (not that the Pistons-Spurs one wasn't incredible in its own right).

If Wade had pulled off that championship, and then still won it the next year, it would've been something that really hasn't been pulled off much ever (2 rings as the man in first 3 seasons). He did have the best 1B probably possible at that time considering Shaq nearly beat out Nash for MVP in '05, but Wade was still arguably lead dog that year, and in '06 and beyond he was the clear-cut lead dog.

The reality is he'd be a consensus top 10-15 player ever had injuries not derailed his career, if not higher. CLEAR CUT top 3 SG all-time as it stands all things considered. Two-way god on the court and in terms of accolades, who knows how much he would have been able to accomplish if he was able to stay healthy really?

If you would have told me after Wade beat the Mavs in '06 that he would probably never win a single playoff series as the man again and would likely end up retiring with only 2 more Robin-type rings, I would've told you you're an idiot, but then been really annoyed about it too. I know you could say this about a lot of players but for some reason I was thinking about the things Wade really could have done to this league... peak Wade I'll always remember as one of the best players ever.

Agreed. Peak Wade was the best slasher I have ever seen.

[SouBeachTalents]

It is amazing even with all that shit mentioned in the OP, his injury in '05, his injury in '07, garbage teams in '08-'10, LeBron's 2011 Finals meltdown, Wade is still a top 20-30 player of all time. But you've got to look at it the other way as well, if the Heat never come back in Game 3 in '06 Wade's ranking, legacy, and perception take a large tumble as well

[WayOfWade]

He could realistically have ended up with 5 Rings & 3 FMVP... and you wouldn't even really have to change much.

:eek: :eek: :eek:
Definitely, you'd only have to change like 2; his Detroit injury and LeBron scoring 2 more points in Game 4 and there you go. Sadly things didn't turn out this way and now we have to deal with some incessant trolling in spite of his greatness

[warriorfan]

You can't really play hypotheticals regarding Wade's injuries too much because Wade's physical style of play is going to lead to injuries. It just goes with the territory.

[WayOfWade]

It is amazing even with all that shit mentioned in the OP, his injury in '05, his injury in '07, garbage teams in '08-'10, LeBron's 2011 Finals meltdown, Wade is still a top 20-30 player of all time. But you've got to look at it the other way as well, if the Heat never come back in Game 3 in '06 Wade's ranking, legacy, and perception take a large tumble as well
We also have to take this into account, and we haven't even mentioned Ray Allen's 3 in 2013, Wade could just as easily be sitting at 2 rings instead of three, anything could happen

[dubeta]

All I know is if he could make a FT in 2011 he would have 4 rings

[WayOfWade]

You can't really play hypotheticals regarding Wade's injuries too much because Wade's physical style of play is going to lead to injuries. It just goes with the territory.
Well that goes without saying, but if he just had 1 injury less (a rib injury which has never given him problems since), everything could be different. That's true with almost every player though, it's just fun sometimes to think what might've been

[WayOfWade]

All I know is if he could make a FT in 2011 he would have 4 rings
Very good Dubeta, not to mention his Game 2 choke and not showing up in game 6, it appears it's all Wade's fault

[dubeta]

Very good Dubeta, not to mention his Game 2 choke and not showing up in game 6, it appears it's all Wade's fault

Nah I would t say that, but he clearly threw away game 4

[warriorfan]

Dubeta should be a guest panelist on NBA Open Court

[WayOfWade]

Nah I would t say that, but he clearly threw away game 4
:applause:

[Hey Yo]

Definitely, you'd only have to change like 2; his Detroit injury and LeBron scoring 2 more points in Game 4 and there you go. Sadly things didn't turn out this way and now we have to deal with some incessant trolling in spite of his greatness
Or Bibby and Joel Anthony combining for more than 4pts in 45MP in Game 4.

[SouBeachTalents]

Or Bibby and Joel Anthony combining for more than 4pts in 45MP in Game 4.

Or LeBron scoring more than 8 points in the same amount of minutes. I don't think that's too much to ask for a player in the middle of winning 4 MVP's in 5 seasons to outscore the likes of Joel Anthony and the corpse of Mike Bibby in a crucial game in the Finals.

Do you seriously give no blame to LeBron for losing that series? Or even that game? Or is it just every other Heat players fault?

[PJR]

Nah I would t say that, but he clearly threw away game 4

How many points did LeBron James score that game? I can't remember.

[SouBeachTalents]

How many points did LeBron James score that game? I can't remember.

This video keeps track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFe8KUEQdn4

[Hey Yo]

Or LeBron scoring more than 8 points in the same amount of minutes. I don't think that's too much to ask for a player in the middle of winning 4 MVP's in 5 seasons to outscore the likes of Joel Anthony and the corpse of Mike Bibby in a crucial game in the Finals.
I don't think it's too much to ask for 2 starters to combine for more than 4 points in a crucial Finals game, do you?



Do you seriously give no blame to LeBron for losing that series? Or even that game? Or is it just every other Heat players fault?
Nope....

Do you seriously give no blame to any other Heat player, other than James, for losing that series?

[SouBeachTalents]

I don't think it's too much to ask for 2 starters to combine for more than 4 points in a crucial Finals game, do you?



Nope....

Do you seriously give no blame to any other Heat player, other than James, for losing that series?

Well if you can't give LeBron literally any blame for losing that series, you are not worth discussing basketball with

[Hey Yo]

Well if you can't give LeBron literally any blame for losing that series, you are not worth discussing basketball with
Nope.....meaning no, I can't say he was w/o any blame whatsoever. I could have elaborated more last post

But you, on the other hand, bring up no other player but James and direct all blame to him when referring to that series.

[WayOfWade]

Nope.....meaning no, I can't say he was w/o any blame whatsoever. I could have elaborated more last post

But you, on the other hand, bring up no other player but James and direct all blame to him when referring to that series.
Blame goes to almost everyone, Wade for that FT, LeBron for reasons stated for 5 years now, Bibby/Anthony for being corpses, everyone gets at least a bit of blame, some more than others. With that being said though, is LeBron the biggest culprit of the bunch in spite of the mistakes of others (Wade)?

[SouBeachTalents]

Nope.....meaning no, I can't say he was w/o any blame whatsoever. I could have elaborated more last post

But you, on the other hand, bring up no other player but James and direct all blame to him when referring to that series.

Lol, ok, my bad then, I thought you meant nope as in he gets no blame. I give LeBron the majority of the blame, I just do. He's the best player in the game, and he played so underpar for his standard, his ppg drop off and 4th quarter play was inexcusable, and I felt it cost them a championship.

Obviously, the rest of the team isn't infallible. Wade didn't score a single point to curb the collapse in Game 2, missed a big FT and dropped the inbounds pass at the end of Game 4, and played poorly in Game 6. Bosh played very poorly in Games 1-3, besides Chalmers nobody else on the Heat did anything of significance in the series, and Carlisle outcoached Spo

[Wade's Rings]

If D-Wade had not injured his ribs and been forced to miss Game 6 of the 2005 ECF (and then been noticeably hobbled by the same injury in Game 7), you can't say it was a lock, but there was a very strong chance they would've beaten Detroit that year. Obviously that would've led to a Heat/Spurs final, which could've been possibly an ATG series (not that the Pistons-Spurs one wasn't incredible in its own right).

If Wade had pulled off that championship, and then still won it the next year, it would've been something that really hasn't been pulled off much ever (2 rings as the man in first 3 seasons). He did have the best 1B probably possible at that time considering Shaq nearly beat out Nash for MVP in '05, but Wade was still arguably lead dog that year, and in '06 and beyond he was the clear-cut lead dog.

The reality is he'd be a consensus top 10-15 player ever had injuries not derailed his career, if not higher. CLEAR CUT top 3 SG all-time as it stands all things considered. Two-way god on the court and in terms of accolades, who knows how much he would have been able to accomplish if he was able to stay healthy really?

If you would have told me after Wade beat the Mavs in '06 that he would probably never win a single playoff series as the man again and would likely end up retiring with only 2 more Robin-type rings, I would've told you you're an idiot, but then been really annoyed about it too. I know you could say this about a lot of players but for some reason I was thinking about the things Wade really could have done to this league... peak Wade I'll always remember as one of the best players ever.

This is an example of how easily legacies can change and be affected. Even his '07 injury was going to be another Finals trip if he didn't get hurt.

If he stayed healthy he probably has 2 more Finals MVPs, 2 more Finals Trips, 1-2 1st Team All NBA, and 1-2 1st Team All Defense.

He has won series as the man in '11.


Yup... crazy what could have happened.
Let us say Miami pulls it off in 05 with Wade winning FMVP and then everything else happens the same except Lebron plays better in 2011 and Wade wins another FMVP.

He could realistically have ended up with 5 Rings & 3 FMVP... and you wouldn't even really have to change much.

:eek: :eek: :eek:

If they win it in '05 Shaq has 5 Rings while being the man for 3 and 1a/1b for another.


And that's without thinking that he had to take out his meniscus because repairing it would've hurt his draft stock. He was Flash with one bad knee from the get go. He had bad teams in his peak 08-10. The injury against Detroit. LBJ playing way sub-par in 2011.

This is why judging players mostly by rings is bullshit. Judging them by analyzing their performance on a very good team with the right circumstances to win, yes. What if Jordan played for the Blazers? What if Pippen does't get to Chicago? What if Robinson doesn't get injured and Duncan does not end up on the Spurs? What if KG isn't injured in 2009? And so on..Circumstances matter the most.

Staying on topic, Wade is one of, if not the most underrated player. He has achieved some incredible things considering he came into the league at 22 with a bad knee, had a lot of bad luck and shit teams at his peak. Yes, he is my favorite player of all time and I am biased but he basically resurrected a franchise that was dead at the moment.

:applause: :applause:


You can't really play hypotheticals regarding Wade's injuries too much because Wade's physical style of play is going to lead to injuries. It just goes with the territory.

:oldlol:

Wade got injured in '05 on a jumpshot.
He got hurt in '07 defending a pass.
He had his meniscus removed in College.

None of his major injuries were because of his style of play.

[dubeta]

This is an example of how easily legacies can change and be affected. Even his '07 injury was going to be another Finals trip if he didn't get hurt.

If he stayed healthy he probably has 2 more Finals MVPs, 2 more Finals Trips, 1-2 1st Team All NBA, and 1-2 1st Team All Defense.

He has won series as the man in '11.



If they win it in '05 Shaq has 5 Rings while being the man for 3 and 1a/1b for another.



:applause: :applause:



:oldlol:

Wade got injured in '05 on a jumpshot.
He got hurt in '07 defending a pass.
He had his meniscus removed in College.

None of his major injuries were because of his style of play.

:facepalm :no: