A couple of years ago, Dwayne Wade had just won a Championship and there was a huge debate about who was better, him or Lebron. The argument was that Wade had already won while Lebron hadn't made it out of the second round. (Update: Corrected the mistake Sammie pointed out).
This debate went back and forth for much of last year until Wade went down with his shoulder injury and cried as he was wheeled off the court. Now, I hate Lebron's "whine like a bitch when you hit the floor" routine as much as anyone, but Wade does the exact same thing, plus he cries like a girl and needs a wheel chair for a shoulder injury.
I mean, sure. It's good to listen to your body. Otherwise, you end up like Paul Shirley, acting tough and ending up in the hospital for weeks because of internal hemorrhaging that you didn't get taken care of quick enough. But a wheel chair? For a shoulder injury? You can't get more removed from your legs if you tried.
ANYWAY, Wade went down with a separated shoulder, came back injured at the end of last year, and then came back early again this year. Now his team is 9-39 and won't make the playoffs unless at least eight teams in the Eastern Conference catch Ebola.
That's why I ask: how healthy is Wade? How does a player who was involved in a debate about who's better with Lebron have a team that's 9-39 in the Eastern Conference? Plus, it's not like his supporting cast is worse than what Lebron had the first couple years in the NBA. Hell, he even has one of the teammates (Ricky Davis).
If he's healthy, and this is a rather big if, this should end the debate once and for all. Lebron just barely missed the playoffs his first two years whereas Wade is completely crapping the bed here in his fifth season. Sure, Wade has decent numbers (24.2/4.4/6.8), but he sure isn't elevating the team around him. Jason Williams is better than any point guard Lebron has ever played with. Haslem is a serviceable banger. Shaq, while a shell of his former self, is still a decent center, especially in this era of general crap in the middle.
If Lebron was on this team, I guarantee that they would have more wins than 9 at this point, even if he missed as many games as Wade has (9). I don't know if Wade is fully healthy, but if he's not, you have to wonder if he ever will be again. He takes so much abuse when he plays and he's nowhere near the tank that Lebron is going to the hoop. It's time to put the Lebron v. Wade debate to rest.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
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9 comments:
As a minor correction, 'Bron made the playoffs the year the heat won the championship. But to compare lineups:
Point: J. Williams:Hughes::Offense:Defense, though neither has been incredible this season.
Swingmen (since Wade and Bron are different positions): Ricky D./(now) Shawn Marion:Pavlovic (Both Ricky and Pavs are having a rather terrible year, Marion wins out over Pavlovic. We'll see how the Heat do from here on out.)
Power Forward: Haslem:Gooden (Gooden may score more on occasion but often doesn't have his head in the game, where Haslem is much more consistent. Haslem may thus have the edge here.)
Center: Shaq/(now) Blount:Big Z (In years past Shaq obviously wins, but this season Big Z seemed to have an edge since he has been scoring productively and not as much of a liability in crunch time. With Shaq moved, Z wins over Blount).
Based on this, Wade may have the better team to work with. And LeBron has suffered injury this season as well.
Sammie, in the swing man category you are discounting everyone's favorite swing man. Boobie!
Add to that Varejao off the bench is better than anything the Heat have coming off.
I think it's certainly close but other than Marion over Pavlovic I think that I probably take all of the Cavs starters over the Heat's starters and probably would take the Cavs healthy bench.
The health of Lebron's cast hasn't been good but their play in good health is better than D-wade's side-kicks.
Wade's shoulder injury was pretty bad. He actually had some nerve damage. That is why he had to be wheeled off and why he was crying. I've seen men cry with far less painful injuries. Wade is no where near 100%. He is still putting up pretty good numbers though.
I think with all the talent that came from his draft class the NBA would be well served by his health.
Not to mention the Heat would be well served to let him heal this season. Unless they go undefeated the rest of the way, they won't sniff the playoffs. Let the man rest.
About the crying over a shoulder injury. I witnessed my college roommate dislocate his shoulder and sob quitely for about 45 minutes until we could get him to the emergency room and they could stabilize it (you see his muscle twitching trying to get it back in). This is a tough guy (unknowingly took a case of samonella poisoning without going to the hospital) and he assured me there is no greater pain in life.
Without question it is painful. My college roommate had dislocated both so many times he needed surgery on both. He was a hockey player. He said the first time is the only really bad one.
Does anyone really think Dwyane told the Heat physicians to get him a wheelchair to get off the court?
Eh, Salmonella doesn't usually require a trip to the hospital, just a little bit of rest and you'll be fine.
There's no reason you can't just wave off the wheel chair, hobble to the tunnel and then get into it once you're off the court. I understand that it hurts, but his job involves landing on wood flooring every day. I would think your pain tolerance would be higher after awhile.
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