Wade's Historical Rank Among SGs

[Money 23]

SG
1. Michael Jordan - #1
2. Kobe Bryant - #8
3. Jerry West - #14
4. Dwyane Wade - #29
5. Clyde Drexler - #34
6. Allen Iverson - #36
7. George Gervin - #48
8. Ray Allen - #54
9. Sam Jones - #55
10. Reggie Miller - #60

Really thorough ranking, will rep when I can.

You got negged by Stateofmind btw. We both did.

I've been getting negged like crazy, and no one has the balls to admit who they were. haha

People are irrational here so I find myself defending him time after time on this website. Here are some facts I've noticed about wade. During his athletic prime, the guy was an absolute beast. Other stars have had their game effected by great defenses but I have noticed that wade always does his thing and shines against tough defenses that other stars are limited by. I have noticed the celtic defense was able to slow down both kobe and lebron, wade ripped right through them and was able to get his shots off efficiently. Number two, wade is an extremely productive player, you can run your entire offense through him and he will not only score during crunch time but he will distribute and make plays for the entire team. Extremely productive player on defense too because of his ability to turn up the pressure with the help defense. We have all seen the crunch time steals and blocks.

Another easy to overlook fact is the way he went toe to toe with lebron for all of lebron's prime. How many nba greats all time would be able to make this claim? Even when they joined up on the same team they were inseperable untill wade's knee started failing him.

Agreed, fantastic post.

Stylistically people always compare kobe to mj because of the mid-range shooting but if you ask me wade is far more similar to young MJ. It is obvious that he spent a lot of time watching and learning from MJ's slashing style and he clearly succeeded at it because his ability to get to the rim is the best the league has ever seen.

Wade is similar to early MJ, growing up in Chicago it's obvious to see the influence.

But think about the peak version of MJ (90 - 93), he was essentially the best of Wade and Kobe combined. He had the speed, quickness, and relentless attacking ability of Wade. But an even better finisher. And had the skill, footwork, and wet jumper of Kobe.

Both these players, arguably the 2nd and 3rd greatest SGs of all-time are essentially the two major halves of peak MJ's game.

Unbelievable.

If it wasnt for Lebron he wouldnt even have that championship

If LeBron didn't play Casper in the 2011 Finals, Wade would've got that 2nd chip and a 2nd FMVP.

Wade was just as good as LeBron in 2011. And was a competitor to LeBron, even in his absolute peak. Don't play yourself, kid.

[red1]

The most clutch player in NBA history would be 1a in the playoffs if Lebron was on his team...

Jerry West is firmly #3, Wade isn't touching him, era doesn't even matter - Outside of a 2-3 year stretch of being neck and neck Wade is simply not as good a player as West - his prime was just as potent but it was much shorter than West's. If West played with Lebron he'd be just as good as when he was playing along side Baylor in the 60's w/o question, and he'd be better than this current version of Wade. He'd be dominating playoffs with virtually unrivaled elevation of his game particularly if Lebron slips as in 2011. If you think West was lesser because of his era than you don't understand Jerry, or basketball history in general and you shouldn't be commenting on either subject. West is the 3rd greatest and 3rd best shooting guard in NBA history, and he's probably the best combo 1 and 2 in NBA history because he also proved to be a league leading point guard at the end of his career. Something I don't think Wade can do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPHFt3PljyA

http://youtu.be/OEzwR1a8KuA

I admit that he came before our era and the only knowledge I have on the dude is the stats, awards, and highlights but common sense alone tells you that the players today are stronger and faster and thus have a huge advantage over those that came before.

[Kews1]

If LeBron didn't play Casper in the 2011 Finals, Wade would've got that 2nd chip and a 2nd FMVP.

Wade was just as good as LeBron in 2011. And was a competitor to LeBron, even in his absolute peak. Don't play yourself, kid.

Yea but if Lebron didnt play "Casper" than you have to obviously assume he would of played well, which means that he would more likely than not won the FMVP and not D-wade. Your point reflects worse on D-Wade because it actually enforces the fact that he needs Lebron to be Lebron in order to win and he cant do it without him?

[Money 23]

Yea but if Lebron didnt play "Casper" than you have to obviously assume he would of played well, which means that he would more likely than not won the FMVP and not D-wade.

Clearly thou art trolling.

All the Heat needed was LeBron to play closer to his averages. He didn't even have to hit them for the Heat to have won that series.

They just needed him to play slightly better than the effort and performances he was putting up.

Wade was easily the best player in that series. He was amazing, in multiple games.

[red1]

But think about the peak version of MJ (90 - 93), he was essentially the best of Wade and Kobe combined. He had the speed, quickness, and relentless attacking ability of Wade. But an even better finisher. And had the skill, footwork, and wet jumper of Kobe.

Both these players, arguably the 2nd and 3rd greatest SGs of all-time are essentially the two major halves of peak MJ's game.

Yeah young MJ really did have the best aspect of both wade and kobe on offense. He was the GOAT even before he ever won.

[red1]

Yea but if Lebron didnt play "Casper" than you have to obviously assume he would of played well, which means that he would more likely than not won the FMVP and not D-wade. Your point reflects worse on D-Wade because it actually enforces the fact that he needs Lebron to be Lebron in order to win and he cant do it without him?

Stop posting mang, you are wrong on both counts.

[CavaliersFTW]

You should have ended at "before our time".

He was in an era with inferior training knowledge, dieting, etc. So dropping him in today's time to see how he would fare is not entirely fair. Who knows how good the Logo could have been with an HGH jaw..

A player should simply be measured in how they stacked up against and performed within the rest of the league in their day.

What you said is a back hand compliment whether you intended it to be or not.

First off, w/o HGH prime Logo wearing chucks is better than almost anyone playing today so you shouldn't even need to handicap your judgement of him like that - it's clear as day when u watch West in action that there is nothing about his game that would be ineffective today - he's all-time talent. If you handicap him to his era than it sounds almost as silly as someone trying to handicap and apologize for MJ "it's not fair to compare MJ to today's players cause of his era"... with genuine talent era goes out the door - you could put West, Larry Bird, MJ or any other all-time player from a past era in today's game or any game with a time machine and i'd bet money they aren't going to do worse just because a bunch of meatheats today abuse HGH. Same goes for all time players playing today - they will adjust to past rules etc. A great player will immediately adapt to a slightly different game if it is necessary at all.

Second off, you need to change your philosophy on life in general if you believe past automatically must be assumed as inferior... that's not the way the cookie crumbles for humans and how they train, the things that have had leaps and bounds are our technology not necessarily our abilities to train and refine ourselves at a particular task (like say, playing defense / scoring). If you knew anything about Jerry West you'd know nobody trained harder or more religiously than him - he was a total perfectionist, the Kobe of his era, and the things he was doing while practicing I'd bet money were not drastically different let alone inferior to what great players in the league are doing today... In fact great players in the league today like Kobe learned a heck of a lot about training directly from West who has been there and done it all already.

[Young X]

People are irrational here so I find myself defending him time after time on this website.

Here are some facts I've noticed about wade. During his athletic prime, the guy was an absolute beast. Other stars have had their game effected by great defenses but I have noticed that wade always does his thing and shines against tough defenses that other stars are limited by. I have noticed the celtic defense was able to slow down both kobe and lebron, wade ripped right through them and was able to get his shots off efficiently. Number two, wade is an extremely productive player, you can run your entire offense through him and he will not only score during crunch time but he will distribute and make plays for the entire team. Extremely productive player on defense too because of his ability to turn up the pressure with the help defense. We have all seen the crunch time steals and blocks.

Stylistically people always compare kobe to mj because of the mid-range shooting but if you ask me wade is far more similar to young MJ. It is obvious that he spent a lot of time watching and learning from MJ's slashing style and he clearly succeeded at it because his ability to get to the rim is the best the league has ever seen.

Another easy to overlook fact is the way he went toe to toe with lebron for all of lebron's prime. How many nba greats all time would be able to make this claim? Even when they joined up on the same team they were inseperable untill wade's knee started failing him.

Everything in this post, especially the bolded is true, good post.

[Money 23]

Everything in this post, especially the bolded is true, good post.

I still remember 2010 Wade sodomizing that AMAZING defense that severely limited Kobe, and annoyed LeBron from time to time.

He had that one game where he dropped what? 46 or 48 points in 3 quarters? And then the whole 4th quarter the Celtics sent three defenders at him to force him to give the ball up?

Wade's next best player that season was second year vet and totally inconsistent and stupid Michael Beasley?

Poor guy. Wade's roster from 2008 - 2010 is worse than anything Kobe or LeBron had to deal with.

Career-wise yeah it is very debatable but when you look at who played at the highest level it would look something like

1. Jordan
2. Kobe
3. Wade
4. Mcgrady


With jerry west coming after a couple of other guys. Even Iverson, Drexler, and RayRay probably reached a higher level. Did they have an advantage because of the fact that they came in a more favourable era? Yeah but that doesn't change any of the other facts. This is why it is futile ranking players that came before the 80s. 80s onwards - any player can be directly compared. Bird and Magic would ball in this era to the same extent but I don't think the same can be said for many of the players that came before

Totally agree on SG peak GAMES as ranked.

And also agree that anything pre 1979 / 1980 was the foundation building for modern basketball, so judging even historical players that were amazing in their era is a difficult thing to do because the game was still evolving to it's peak potential.

That's why I separate the founding stars of the game, from the post 1980 modernized game.

[Deuce Bigalow]

Everything in this post, especially the bolded is true, good post.

'11 ECF vs the No. 1 Defense Chicago Bulls
Wade: 18.8 PPG/2.2 APG/4.0 TO/.405%FG/.200%3PT

[Money 23]

'11 ECF vs the No. 1 Defense Chicago Bulls
Wade: 18.8 PPG/2.2 APG/4.0 TO/.405%FG/.200%3PT

Wade through out his career struggles v.s. Chicago.

Pretty sure it's a mental thing regarding playing his hometown team.

He still made some clutch ass buckets and defensive stops in that series, even given his poor play that series.

[Sharmer]

Top 5 for sure.

[red1]

When he came back in 2008 after the injury the hunger and focus I saw in wade was just amazing. He was never in a position to win an mvp or take his team far in the playoffs but the player I saw that year would easily rival any of the top players all time. Impact on the court was unreal, was a blur on the court doing something during every play and was relentless on defense and on offense.

[red1]

money23 I will rep you the next chance I get. You are always on point

[97 bulls]

Wade is overrated. I've never seen a players career be based on one year and one series as much as Wade.