Wade vs Kobe

[acbaylove]

We weren't supposed to have this conversation yet. But Dwyane Wade reset the timetable.

He has a way of doing that. The Miami Heat's second-year guard forces comparisons you aren't ready to make, sometimes even bringing us to the brink of basketball blasphemy. He makes you feel bad, because no matter how much basketball you watched you didn't see this coming.

And now he makes you uncomfortable, because you must ask the question: Who's the best perimeter player in the game, Dwyane Wade or Kobe Bryant?

Put it to Eddie Jones and watch him squirm. He plays with Wade now, but he was on the Lakers when Bryant broke in and has known him since he was at Temple and Bryant played high school ball in suburban Philadelphia.

"Whew," Jones said. " … I can't pick. I love both. I think they're both great. One-on-one … I don't know who's better. Kobe's 6-7, strong. Dwyane's 6-4, strong, quicker."

This season, Wade averaged 24.1 points, 6.8 assists, 5.2 rebounds and shot 47.8% from the field, 28.9% on three-pointers. Bryant: 27.6 points, 6.0 assists, 5.9 rebounds, 43.3% shooting, 33.9% three-point shooting.

Bryant has scored 11,189 more points in his career and has three championship rings. Wade has yet to appear in the NBA Finals.

Bryant is more accomplished. But Wade is playing better right now, and he keeps doing things that skip him past Bryant and into the company of NBA legends.

When he averaged 26.3 points, 8.8 assists, 6.3 rebounds and shot 50% from the field in the Heat's first-round sweep of the New Jersey Nets, Wade joined Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Oscar Robertson and Bob Cousy as the only players to average at least 25 points, eight assists and six rebounds while shooting 50% in a series. When he averaged 31 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and shot 53% in the second round against Washington, he joined Bird as the only players to do it twice in the same postseason.

And just when it appeared the Detroit Pistons had brought Wade back to the mortal plane by holding him to 16 points on seven-for-25 shooting in the first game of the Eastern Conference finals, Wade responded with 40 points, eight rebounds and six assists to lead the Heat to victory in Game 2.

Wade playing while Bryant's team didn't qualify for the postseason gives him the edge right now. True, he is playing alongside Shaquille O'Neal, but O'Neal is limping through the worst postseason of his career. In the two playoff games O'Neal missed with a bruised right thigh, Wade went for a total of 73 points.

And when he played with Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and Caron Butler — the players who were traded to the Lakers for O'Neal — Wade went to the second round of the playoffs.

Wade should make Bryant that much better next season. After Bryant finishes licking his wounds, he can set about recapturing his old glory that now belongs to Wade — the accolades, the jersey sales, the great postseason moments.

In the 1997-98 season, when Bryant was a second-year player subbing for Jones, I used to wonder who would be the Lakers' second Hall of Fame player to go with Shaquille O'Neal. The common belief was that it required at least two future Springfield enshrinees to win a championship. Then one game, while watching Bryant score at will, I had the answer. It would be Kobe.

From then on it was like watching "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith." You knew exactly where this was going.

Wade, on the other hand, was a surprise. Heat President Pat Riley drafted him with the No. 5 pick in 2003, and he didn't expect this.

Others were told how good he was, and still didn't get with the program fast enough.

Tom Crean, Wade's coach at Marquette, was an assistant coach at Michigan State when Steve Smith played there and during Wade's college career Crean let the longtime NBA veteran know, "Steve, we've got a special one here."

So Smith paid attention, but he didn't see the revolution coming. He saw Wade as a slasher, a guy who could drive the baseline — about the same as Ruben Patterson, he thought.

Smith, now a reserve for the Heat, has seen the entire package unfold this season. He's so impressed by Wade's ball-handling skills, the versatility, the ability to define what he wants to do as a player.

www.latimes.com

[PLANT]

W A D E

[Stone Cold is Bout It, Bout It]

D.Wack might be flash but kobe is flashier.

D.Wack needs to acomplish the things kobe has done..D.Wack has not one shit..he's playing good against avg teams kobe did it against the twin towers t.duncan and d.robinson and the kings and spurs and all those other teams,the west confrense has always been tough


noone has more game winning shots then kobe the last 6 years or big 4rth querters big shots,kobe has playd in alot of big games

141 pts combined in back to back to back road games in the 2001 playoffs,the last two vs san antonio..kobe was apart of a team that sweep the west ,2001 Lakers,3 straight championships,only 4 times has that been done,..the celtics back in the days,the bulls 2 times and the Lakers..

D.Wack has not done shit,he has alot of work to do before you compare him to kobe

[hisairness]

Wade's the better player of the two because he doesn't have to have the spotlight on him.  In fact, based on his personality, it seems that he'd rather not have any spotlight on him at all.  Kobe has to be the man, Wade doesn't.  If Wade can be average or below average and his team can still win.  Kobe has to be damn near spectactular for his team to win.

Go ahead Kobe fans...flame away.

[Stone Cold is Bout It, Bout It]

Wade's the better player of the two because he doesn't have to have the spotlight on him. In fact, based on his personality, it seems that he'd rather not have any spotlight on him at all. Kobe has to be the man, Wade doesn't. If Wade can be average or below average and his team can still win. Kobe has to be damn near spectactular for his team to win.

Go ahead Kobe fans...flame away.

stupidest reason why D.Wack is better then kobe.spotlight??? LOL,that has nothing to do whos better

[Stone Cold is Bout It, Bout It]

Go ahead Kobe fans...flame away.

Is not even about been a kobe fan..we give you the fuckin facts,D.Wade has not done shit,

that's like a Lakers fan saying "kobe is better then jordan" and then telling bulls fans "go ahead jordan fans flame on"..you're an idiot!!..

let D.WAck get a couple of trophys and then we could compare the two but untill then,stop it..is ok to compare kobe and jordan because kobe has rings,he's put up big #'s and has had big games and all that jordan stuff

[Javier]

Lets see what type of career each player has then compare.  

[Stone Cold is Bout It, Bout It]

Lets see what type of career each player has then compare. 

WHAT THE hell are you talking about?!..kobe has done so much in his career,is not easy to acomplish what he has acomplish

d.wack has alot of catching up to do,just like kobe has to catch up to jordan,kobe is the only one chasing jordan,D.Wack is chasing kobe

[Javier]

Lets see what type of career each player has then compare. 

WHAT THE hell are you talking about?!..kobe has done so much in his career,is not easy to acomplish what he has acomplish

d.wack has alot of catching up to do,just like kobe has to catch up to jordan,kobe is the only one chasing jordan,D.Wack is chasing kobe

Relax.  Of cours eKobe has done so much more in his career than Wade.  Thats why a fair assesment of both players would be at the end of both of their careers.

[Ðøšïå]

Go ahead Kobe fans...flame away.

Is not even about been a kobe fan..we give you the fuckin facts,D.Wade has not done shit,

that's like a Lakers fan saying "kobe is better then jordan" and then telling bulls fans "go ahead jordan fans flame on"..you're an idiot!!..

let D.WAck get a couple of trophys and then we could compare the two but untill then,stop it..is ok to compare kobe and jordan because kobe has rings,he's put up big #'s and has had big games and all that jordan stuff

if its not about being a kobe fan how bout you stop referring to wade as "d wack" and come off as a little more unbiased. alright mr.airhead?

[Macaframa]

Kobe has my vote

[acbaylove]

Lets see what type of career each player has then compare. 

WHAT THE hell are you talking about?!..kobe has done so much in his career,is not easy to acomplish what he has acomplish

d.wack has alot of catching up to do,just like kobe has to catch up to jordan,kobe is the only one chasing jordan,D.Wack is chasing kobe

Relax.  Of cours eKobe has done so much more in his career than Wade.  Thats why a fair assesment of both players would be at the end of both of their careers.

For sure. I'm just asking who's better in your opinion NOW. Who should be your starting guard in your fantasy dream team?

[Javier]

Based on this year alone, Id still like to have Kobe over Wade

[acbaylove]

Me too. But Wade is fantastic.

[King Of L.A.]

WADE is overrated. Hes not proven, he has no jumper and people are just riding his Dick right now cuz theres 4 teams left. not much to talk about so lets make a Kobe comparison.. Lets see how far he can go with shaq, then make this arguement. 

3 rings > wades life.