Dwyane Wade to retire after this season
- Thread starter MMC
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Stylizer1
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BigMac1212
I feel...alone.
I think he's underappreciated. Sure, he was helped by Shaq and Lebron, but he was good in his own right.
Voight
#winning
Obviously MJ, Kobe are ahead of him. A.I if you consider him a SG, is also ahead. 4-5 is between Reggie Miller, Wade, and Ray Allen so yea top 5 is a safe bet.
2006 was all him. Then there was 2009 when he went beastmode after that injury the year before and won the scoring title.
Stylizer1
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Neutrinos
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Who's the obvious #2 behind Jordan?
If it's Kobe, I think a case could be made that both Wade and McGrady had higher peaks
Terry Yake
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kobe is the obvious #2
disagree on wade having a higher peak but t-mac for sure did. from 02-04 i would say he was the best pure scoring guard in the league. even better than kobe
BigBadBruins7708
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dahrougem2
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I wouldn't say that McGrady had a higher peak than Kobe at all. McGrady's best season was 32/7/6 with 2 steals per game. Kobe's best season was 35/5/5 with 2 steals per game. Kobe also scored 25+ PPG in 12/13 seasons from 2000-2013. McGrady only scored 25+ PPG in 5 seasons.
Wade's numbers took a big hit once LeBron James arrived, and that pretty much signalled the end for him. His peak also wasn't better than Kobe's, as his best season was 30/5/8 with 2 steals per game. I don't think either player has an argument to be made over Kobe. Kobe has more rings, more regular season MVP's, Finals MVP's, and higher PPG average for his career.
Avs_19
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I think Wade's third behind Jordan and Kobe in the modern NBA. West is too old school for me to rank.
Wade has been overshadowed by other stars because guys like LeBron and Kobe were at their peaks at the same time as him but he was amazing in his prime and has gone through a few different phases. He started off by being one of the most athletic and exciting players in the league, then developed into one of the best two-way guards, and when the injuries caught up he was able to remain a superstar by perfecting the mid-range game and adding a bunch of crafty veteran moves.
Wade has been overshadowed by other stars because guys like LeBron and Kobe were at their peaks at the same time as him but he was amazing in his prime and has gone through a few different phases. He started off by being one of the most athletic and exciting players in the league, then developed into one of the best two-way guards, and when the injuries caught up he was able to remain a superstar by perfecting the mid-range game and adding a bunch of crafty veteran moves.
Neutrinos
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Like McGrady, Kobe was never particularly efficient as a scorer
In the 2 years he won the scoring title, he shot a combined .456% from the field
The year Wade won the scoring title he shot .491%
Bryant's best PER season was 28
McGrady lead the league in PER one season with a 30.3
Wade lead the league in PER with 28.9. He also had seasons with a 30.4 and a 28 PER
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dahrougem2
Registered User
I'm not a big efficiency guy, and given the amount of shots Kobe was needing to take on those god awful Lakers teams his field goal percentage is understandable. Granted, he's never been a +50% guy but nobody really expected him to be. That's tough to do in general.
The point still stands that Kobe > McGrady and Wade, and I believe his peak was higher, too.
Voight
#winning
Kobe's 2005-2008 peak as without a doubt better than Wades, and I'd argue its close to McGrady's (which was matched by few in history).
Aside from peak he easily trumps both career-wise.
Terry Yake
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kobe's 05-08 peak was absolutely ridiculous
he was scoring at an absurd rate and single-handedly took teams with chris mihm and smush parker as starters to the playoffs. even coming within a game of eliminating the nash/stoudemire suns in 06 (led the series 3-1 at one point)
it really sucks how he had absolutely no one around him during his prime years and his two later career titles came as his career was beginning its downward trend
he was scoring at an absurd rate and single-handedly took teams with chris mihm and smush parker as starters to the playoffs. even coming within a game of eliminating the nash/stoudemire suns in 06 (led the series 3-1 at one point)
it really sucks how he had absolutely no one around him during his prime years and his two later career titles came as his career was beginning its downward trend
Clearly better than Clyde? Yeah, I don't think so. While Wade might've had the better prime, both peak, and career go to Clyde. He absolutely destroys him in every facet looking outside of Wade's best 5 seasons. He also came closer to winning the MVP award, was a better defender, a far better rebounder (especially on the offensive glass), better 3pt shooter etc. He is absurdly underrated because he played in the same era as MJ.
Neutrinos
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Drexler "peaked" at a 24.1 PER
Wade has 6 seasons above that - including a season with a PER above 30
Drexler was a 5x All-NBA, Wade is an 8x All-NBA
Drexler was a 10x all-star, Wade is a 12x all-star
Wade was also a 3x All-NBA defensive player. Drexler was never awarded with such an honour
Any which way you want to slice it, Wade clearly had the better prime/peak, and quite frankly, I'm inclined to say he had the better career as well
Morozov
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Why would we want to look outside of Wade's five best seasons?
You talk about him being closest to winning MVP, but it's Wade with two first team selections to Drexler's one. And eight total all NBA selections to five. He came second once, Wade came third, it isn't exactly a compelling argument. Drexler lost to MJ sure, and Wade lost to LeBron and Kobe who are both better than Drexler as well. Even then, Wade actually had more first place votes that year than Kobe did.
Speaking of awards, it's also Wade that led the league in scoring.
It's also Wade who has the finals MVP. I don't like to ring count, so I'm not boosting Wade for three rings to one because MJ, LeBron etc. But certainly it's a huge feather in the cap of Wade to have a finals MVP. Whatever reasons you want to use to justify why Drexler didn't get one doesn't invalidate that Wade did. That counts for much more than being closer to winning MVP.
I don't agree he was a better defender, Wade was a fantastic defender, and he's the one with the defensive team selections to show for it.
Clyde should have been a better rebounder, he had about 4 inches on Wade. Despite this, Wade was the better shot blocker.
His peak included a season where he led the league in scoring while being first team all NBA and second team all defence. Along with a fantastic finals MVP run a couple of years later. Drexler's peak does not match this.
I agree that he was underrated because of MJ, at the same time, Wade would be viewed better if Kobe wasn't in the league.
You talk about him being closest to winning MVP, but it's Wade with two first team selections to Drexler's one. And eight total all NBA selections to five. He came second once, Wade came third, it isn't exactly a compelling argument. Drexler lost to MJ sure, and Wade lost to LeBron and Kobe who are both better than Drexler as well. Even then, Wade actually had more first place votes that year than Kobe did.
Speaking of awards, it's also Wade that led the league in scoring.
It's also Wade who has the finals MVP. I don't like to ring count, so I'm not boosting Wade for three rings to one because MJ, LeBron etc. But certainly it's a huge feather in the cap of Wade to have a finals MVP. Whatever reasons you want to use to justify why Drexler didn't get one doesn't invalidate that Wade did. That counts for much more than being closer to winning MVP.
I don't agree he was a better defender, Wade was a fantastic defender, and he's the one with the defensive team selections to show for it.
Clyde should have been a better rebounder, he had about 4 inches on Wade. Despite this, Wade was the better shot blocker.
His peak included a season where he led the league in scoring while being first team all NBA and second team all defence. Along with a fantastic finals MVP run a couple of years later. Drexler's peak does not match this.
I agree that he was underrated because of MJ, at the same time, Wade would be viewed better if Kobe wasn't in the league.
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