Dwyane Wade
(Simmons: #53, BBR, #35)
Dwyane Wade is one of the greatest current players in the NBA, and he has the accolades to prove it. He is an Olympic Gold Medalist, NBA Champion, former scoring leader, and Finals MVP. In his eight seasons in the NBA, he has ranked as one of the top 5 players five times, which includes every season in which he was not a rookie and did not suffer a major injury.
Wade's career highlight came in his third season, when he led the Heat to their only NBA Championship as the team's best player, which earned him the Finals MVP award. John Hollinger rated his performance as the best in NBA Finals history, even better than anything that Michael Jordan ever did. Here are his numbers from those playoffs:
Wade - 28.4 pts, 5.9 reb, 5.7 ast, 2.2 stl, 1.1 blk, .497 FG%, .378 3P%, .808 FT%
In addition to the overall totals, Wade had some amazing performances in the Finals. In three straight games he scored at least 36 points, all leading to Heat victories, which were much needed after they began with an 0-2 deficit. There was no doubt that Wade was the reason they were able to overcome the Mavericks and win the title, even with Shaq, the most dominant player of the past decade, playing beside him.
Wade spent a good portion of the next two season on the injured list, leading many to think that he was destined to become the next Penny Hardaway rather than the next Michael Jordan, but he has bounced back strong, missing six games or less in each of the last three years and ranking in the top 5 players in the league.
Last season, Wade relinquished his role as the best player in Miami in order to bring LeBron James into the fold, and the move paid off, as Miami finally returned to the NBA Finals, losing in six games in a rematch with the Dallas Mavericks. Although he was only the #2 player on his team, he was also the #2 player in the league during the regular season, behind LeBron, although in the playoffs, Wade regained his role as the best Heat player and was the biggest reason for their run to the Finals. Here are his and LeBron's stats for the regular season and the playoffs:
Wade (Regular) - 25.5 pts, 6.4 reb, 4.6 ast, 1.5 stl, 1.1 blk, .500 FG%, .306 3P%, .758 FT%
Wade (Playoffs) - 24.5 pts, 7.1 reb, 4.4 ast, 1.6 stl, 1.3 blk, .485 FG%, .269 3P%, .777 FT%
James (Regular) - 26.7 pts, 7.5 reb, 7.0 ast, 1.6 stl, 0.6 blk, .510 FG%, .330 3P%, .759 FT%
James (Playoffs) - 23.7 pts, 8.4 reb, 5.9 ast, 1.6 stl, 1.2 blk, .466 FG%, .353 3P%, .763 FT%
Overall, Wade played at almost exactly the same level in the playoffs as during the regular season, while James saw large dips in both scoring and shooting percentage, both very important categories for a team's leading scorer. Over the next several years we'll be able to see if Wade's penchant for performing in the big moments escalates him into the ranks of the greatest players of all time with his boyhood idol, Michael Jordan.
Hayes was a lot more durable than Wade early in his career, never missing more than 2 games in any season during his career, and he was the best player on three teams that made the NBA Finals, one more than Wade can currently claim. Wade, however, rose to the occasion in the Finals, while Hayes shrunk from the spotlight. Wade has also spent more time as a top 5 player than Hayes, who was content to be top 15 for the majority of his career, so Wade's desire to be the best puts him one step ahead of Hayes.
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