LeBron James vs. Dwyane Wade

One of the greatest upsides about the NFL season coming to an end, from an NBA perspective, is that the marquee matinée games commence every Sunday throughout the rest of the season.   After the season, of course, the 3-month playoff bonanza begins.  This means that, essentially, we will be seeing heavyweight contenders going head-to-head basically every weekend from now until June.  It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing for an NBA fan.  From here on out, we will be seeing constant NBA on ABC promos every weekend, in addition to the TNT and ESPN broadcasts during the week.  On this particular afternoon, we get to see one heck of a double-header: Heat-Celtics and Lakers-Magic.  This quality standard of double-and-triple headers will give me something to look forward to every Sunday.  Since I sleep in until about 11 or 12 on Sundays as is, I basically wake up to great basketball games.  It’s a great stretch of the calendar year for us NBA fans – the complete opposite of the miserable August-October time frame.  If you don’t like baseball, late-summer to early-fall is not a good time for you.

The frequent occurrences of these great games lead to resurfacing of the NBA’s greatest debates.  Today’s Heat-Celtics matchup, for example, prompts the “which Big 3 is better?” question.  A Heat-Lakers game always brings up the LeBron-Kobe argument.   The Celtics-Lakers rivalry has (and always will) raise the “best NBA franchise” debate.  These arguments really fuel the great matchups that we will be seeing frequently.

Today, I’m going to try to tackle one discussion that comes up every so often – the LeBron James and Dwyane Wade comparison.  Prior to this season (as opponents), every Miami-Cleveland game was a must-see.  The fierce competitiveness always leads to back-and-forth jaw-dropping plays between the two.  When they put their 7-year rivalry behind them and decided to become teammates, they received so much criticism from fans, analysts, and current and former players alike. Legends like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan all publicly criticized the move, saying they would never have teamed up with other superstars and instead would rather compete for championships against one another.  A lot of folks thought they had playing styles too similar to make it work.  Now, they are the most formidable duo in the league.  They are definitely similar players, in terms of their impact on the complexion of a game.  But they do have slightly different skill sets, strengths, and weaknesses that I will delve into. 

D-Wade and LBJ have been compared to each other since they were both drafted in 2003

Most people think that LBJ is a better player than D-Wade, and there is sufficient rationale behind it that I will break down later.  Some do acknowledge, however, that Wade has done a lot, including earning a championship ring, to prove his case.  This is one of those back-and-forth debates that will be talked about well after the two of them hang up their sneakers and earn Hall of Fame honors. 

Let’s compare these guys in as many categories as we can:

Scoring – Even

Let’s face it:  neither of these guys are above-average outside shooters.  Having said that, they can both get hot in a hurry.   We’ve already seen many games where they both have hot streaks and pile on the points.  Unfortunately, they both go through their fair share of cold streaks.  LeBron, in particular, has cleverly been called “LeBrick” by ESPN’s Skip Bayless, given how heavily the ball tends to clank off the rim whenever he misses.  A career 29% 3-point shooter, Wade hasn’t been much better.

As far as scoring in general, these two guys know how to fill up the scoreboard.  Their inconsistent outside shooting aside, they both have a great offensive repertoire.  Each of them have a scoring title (Lebron in 2007-08, Wade in 2008-09) to boot.  If LeBron uses his size and learns how to become a good post player, I would give him the nod in this category.  For now, they’re even.

Playmaking – LeBron

Both guys are fantastic facilitators, and we’ve seen both of them carry their teams in years past with average supporting casts.  They are both outstanding at getting their teammates involved, and they both have great court vision.  As gifted as they are as scorers, both players play unselfishly and make good decisions with the ball.  You saw LeBron play a lot of 1-on-5 in Cleveland, but that might have had more to do with head coach Mike Brown’s unimaginative offensive schemes and his teammates’ inability to create their own shots.  I’ve seen a few games this year where he falls back into that, but coach Spoelstra and D-Wade yell at him whenever he does.   Overall, though, he is very unselfish and efficient at getting his teammates involved.

Wade is also a very gifted playmaker.  At times, though, Wade gambles when facilitating the offense.  As fun as it is to watch his flashy playing style – be it his patented step-through, acrobatic moves around the rim, or creative passes – that style does sometimes leads to careless turnovers.   Career average wise, Wade only averages slightly more turnovers than LeBron (LBJ at 3.32, Wade at 3.66).  But LeBron gets more assists and has been given the point-forward role in Miami’s offense. 

Finishing – LeBron (slightly)

Whether it’s in the half-court or on fast-breaks, these two guys always make the highlight reels every night with spectacular finishes at the basket.  Individually and together, they are both absolutely devastating in transition.  Their styles in the halfcourt, however, are quite different;  LeBron often uses his brute speed and strength to overpower his opponents, while Wade is more flashy – using his quickness and slashing ability to get to the rim. Both are very effective.

Though they are very evenly matched in this category, I’ll give a slight edge to LeBron because of his strength and leaping ability.  Those two advantages make him more of an unstoppable force.  D-Wade is no slouch, though, having his fair share of dunks and and-one plays. 

Defense – Even

I fully expect both guys to make 1^st or 2^nd All-NBA Defensive teams for several years to come.  Both are fully aware that success starts at the defensive end.  Since LeBron is a bigger guy who still has great speed, I would say he’s the more versatile defender who can guard all 5 positions.  Wade uses his quickness and wreaks more havoc on the passing lanes, while LeBron uses his strength to bother opponents one-on-one to prevent them from beating him off the dribble.  These two guys are also very good at staying in front of players and contesting every shot.  Both players are equally effective on D, but in different ways.   Given their positions (Wade being a 2, LeBron a 3), they are also terrific rebounders. 

In the Clutch – Wade

To me, this is what sets Wade apart from LBJ.  LeBron has made clutch plays from time to time, but Wade has a lot more to show for his crunch time abilities, and has delivered for his team when stakes were high.   Even since his rookie season, he always seemed to have great instincts in clutch situations.  He, unlike LeBron, took his team to the playoffs his rookie season.  Although they were a 4^th seed, most predicted them to lose in the 1^st round to Baron Davis’ Hornets.  In the deciding game of that series, a rookie Wade crossed up the veteran for a series-winning shot.   Talk about immediately making your mark in the league.  Shaq also made note of this after he helped Wade win the 2006 title, saying he was very impressed by Wade’s play in his first playoff series, particularly against a big-name player like Baron Davis.

We saw Wade at his best in the 2006 Finals vs. Dallas, where his Heat team was down double figures and was 6 minutes away from an insurmountable 3-0 series deficit.   The way he willed his team to victory that game, which carried through to the rest of the series, was the most MJ-esque performance I’ve ever seen in the post-Jordan era.  Unfortunately, his teams fell short in the following seasons despite his best efforts.  Even so, he had several memorable performances despite being on a mediocre team.  Remember the ridiculous steal and game-winning three against Chicago a couple years ago in double OT?  Absolutely incredible instincts.  He’s already had a number of career-defining games and has come through in numerous clutch situations.

In just his 3rd NBA season, Wade had one of the greatest Finals MVP performances ever

Since the King is ring-less, the best that NBA promos can do with him is to keep showing the replay of his game-winner vs. Orlando in Game 2 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals.  Given how lopsided that series actually was, that clip shouldn’t belong in a montage of clutch shots. It’s just that he doesn’t have any other meaningful ones.  He did make one NBA Finals appearance in 2007, where his Cavs were dominated by San Antonio 4-0 (which very well may have been the most unwatchable Finals series in the history of the NBA).  His one legendary game came one round earlier that year vs. Detroit, where he scored 29 of the Cavs’ final 30 points (and a total of 48) on the Pistons.  But has he had a career defining moment since then?  Not really.

After ‘The Decision,’ one of the 1,000,000 things people criticized LeBron about is the fact that he risked destroying the LeBron “brand” by teaming up with D-Wade.  That is, there would always be the perception that LeBron would be the Robin to Wade’s Batman and couldn’t win a championship as the primary guy.  Thus far, it’s hard to argue that despite LeBron’s current success.  While LeBron is now a favorite to win regular season MVP honors, the jury is still out as to whether he can lead a team to a championship.  As D-Wade’s teammate, he won’t necessarily need to.  

In the end, I can’t see how you can argue against Wade in this one. 

(By the way, in the middle of writing this, LBJ just missed a crucial FT to tie this game vs. Boston with 10 seconds to go.  Right on cue..)

Durability – LeBron

This isn’t even close.  In most eyes, this is really what makes LeBron a more reliable player than D-Wade.  At 6’9” and 250 pounds, LeBron is an absolute tank.  To put it in perspective, Dwight Howard is listed as only 15 pounds heavier.  From a physical standpoint, LeBron is virtually indestructible.  If these guys were both uncanny equals in every single way in terms of talent (and they almost are), LeBron’s invincibility really seals the deal for him.   While Wade has not missed a whole lot of games the past few seasons, the truth is that his fearless play and constant pounding when getting to the rim makes him somewhat injury-prone.  Since injuries are obviously a huge part of the game, this is what makes LBJ a safer bet in terms of career longevity.  Combine this with the fact that Wade is already 29 years old (LBJ is just 26).  Unless he drastically changes his reckless-abandon style, LBJ will, more than likely, play significantly more games than Wade over the course of their careers.

LeBron's physique gives him the ability to posterize opponents at will

Likeability – Wade

Wade haters tend to be those who can’t stand the number of calls he benefits from with the referees.  But overall, that pales in comparison to the nationwide hatred toward LeBron.  Ever since ‘The Decision,’ LeBron has been the league’s #1 villain.  In addition to his faltering effort during crucial playoff games, his sportsmanship (or lack thereof) has been questioned.  This was particularly evident when he refused to shake his opponents’ hands after their Game 6 loss to Orlando in the aforementioned 2009 ECF.  He then declined to speak with the media afterwards.  After Cleveland’s Game 6 loss to Boston in last year’s 2^nd round, LeBron snatched off his Cleveland jersey immediately upon entering the tunnel to the locker room.  All this was before the disastrous 1-hour segment that completely derailed his popularity.  

Also, recall the contract negotiations over the off-season when Wade, LeBron and Bosh decided to team up in Miami.  All three players made significant monetary sacrifices to allow for Pat Riley to put together a decent supporting cast around them.  However, Wade gave up slightly more money to allow for the Heat to re-sign their glue guy and team leader, Udonis Haslem.  Granted the bigger sacrifice was from Haslem, as he accepted $14 mil less than what he would have got from Dallas or Denver.  But there was a good amount of sacrifice from Wade’s end to make it happen.  Even though he is the face of Miami, having put his stamp on the franchise for 7 years, he had no problem being the 3^rd highest paid player on the team behind LeBron and Bosh.  Though all three of those guys deserve credit for taking less money than other max free agents (somehow Joe Johnson signed the fattest contract of all the 2010 free agents - $130 mil), Wade has arguably been the most unselfish. 

Both guys, from what I’ve seen, are very active in the community and have given several generous donations for noble causes, including the Haiti earthquake, victims of Hurricane Katrina, and so on.  Wade, though, has really impressed me with the things he’s done on top of donating cuts of his paycheck.  Take some time to watch these Make-A-Wish special features:  see this first, and then this.  Wade spends a lot of time giving back, being as personable as he can.  I’m not saying LeBron (or any other player) doesn’t do equally generous things for the community, but much has been made of Wade’s generosity to citizens of both Miami and his hometown of Chicago.  To me, he seems very genuine and sincere about giving back.  I remember NBA journeyman Ron Mercer (while helping Hurricane Katrina victims) saying that it’s really easy for players to give money, but the key is to take it a step further by putting in time and effort while giving back.  Wade has definitely taken it a step further than most players. 

On the court, Wade is a fierce competitor.  Still, he is greatly respected by the NBA family and outside communities for all that he does off the court.  If I could hang out with any NBA player for a day, it would be D-Wade.  

Enough talk..Who’s better?

 So who is better?  That depends on the situation and what your team needs are.   Both are extremely efficient and productive players, and obviously are about even in many aspects of the game.  This debate heavily depends on setting:  if it’s a question of endurance - needing someone for long durations and to log heavy minutes during the regular season grind, I’d take LeBron.   If you’re asking who I’d rather have in tight playoff games and crunch time situations, I’d take D-Wade.  

In the end, you can’t go wrong with either player.  This is one of those ongoing debates that may very well never be settled.  As they are both still in the prime of their careers, this discussion has a long way to go.  At gunpoint, who would you take?  If you want to win championships, I would personally pick D-Wade, all things considered.  I know that LeBron has had the better numbers (see the career comparison above).  Remember their days with Team USA?  Wade was clearly the MVP of the 2008 Olympics – just ask his teammates.  Much was made of Kobe’s 4-point play in the Gold Medal game, but Wade was clearly the best and most consistent player on the team.   And although Kobe’s 4 -point play was huge, Wade hit the real dagger in their next possession to seal the win. 

Kobe and LBJ get most of the spotlight, but the humble superstar
to the right deserves it just as much

Bottom line is, Wade has demonstrated a killer instinct that has been unmatched by that of LeBron’s, at least so far.  LBJ has been called out by Cavaliers fans (as well as owner Dan Gilbert) for quitting on his team in several crucial playoff games (most notably Game 6 in the aforementioned 2009 ECF vs. Orlando, and the 2010 2^nd round matchup vs. Boston).  Has anyone ever accused Wade of quitting on his team?  Absolutely not.  Can’t say the same for LBJ.  That’s enough for me to overlook LeBron’s superior durability.  Wade’s winning intangibles have clearly been better to this point.   Ultimately, LeBron’s career will be judged by postseason success.  If the past is indicative of things to come, whatever he does may very well be overshadowed by his dynamic teammate.  LeBron can undoubtedly bring a lot of regular season success, but he has yet to prove he can be a true winner.  In all fairness, he's never been on a great team.  Now, he has no more excuses.

I would suspect that a majority of basketball fans would disagree with me (even at LBJ’s low point popularity-wise), but I know that others wouldn’t.  For example, ESPN’s Skip Bayless has been known to be quite critical of LeBron from Day 1 – calling him a rich, class-less spoiled brat who lacks the killer instinct that the MJs and Kobes of the league have.  Skip took a whole lot of heat for his comments, but I get the feeling that Cleveland fans (and fans throughout the league) no longer find his opinion all that outrageous and have come around.  LBJ gets more TV face-time and is mentioned in many more MVP arguments than Wade, but I think LeBron still has a lot to prove.   

Let’s see what happens in the playoffs. It’ll be interesting to see who the go-to guy is, particularly when games are on the line.