Wade vs Jordan

[GloveGuy]

Dwyane Wade is a great basketball player, and his performance in the Finals was remarkable to watch. It was truly Jordan-like.

That said, there's still plent of room separating between him and Jordan. Give me a 24 year-old Wade over a 24 year-old Jordan, but Jordan in his prime was incredible in ever aspect of the game. Jordan 1990-1993 would eat D-Wade alive.

If I were starting a team right now, I'd take Wade over Kobe. His ceiling just seems so much higher. Kobe is entering his 10th year, and I've yet to see him consistently carry his team on his back when it matters like Wade just did against Dallas. I can't help but think that Wade would never put up that type of performance that Kobe did in Game 7 against the Suns.

They (Kobe and Wade) are equally dangerous in their own respects, but Wade just seems to have it, something we haven't seen since Jordan left.

EDIT: Scratch that. Jordan at 24 basically played on a CBA team. They were terrible. He was incredible, the other guys sucked. Jordan at 24 > Wade at 24.

[Sauru]

its an insult to compare the 2. personally i see wade as the next reggie miller. miller was the king at flopping and jumping into defenders to get foul calls, now the torch has been passed to wade who is soft and depends mostly on refs to play well. actually i dont think miller jumped on the ground as much as wade does, maybe i am insulting miller now.....


either way, jordan was a man and played a mans game. wade is a boy trying to hide behind the refs

[-Young Buck-]

In 1996, already established as the greatest player on earth, Jordan averaged 11.2 FTA/game and in 1997 it was 9.2. He never came close to averaging 16 per game.

[/quote]

This was part of my point. Jordan never fell down on the court trying to draw fouls to get to the line 20 times a game. He just posted you up and turned and drained one on you. A true skill, and a sign of someone great. Where it seems Wade is always flopping down on the court, most of the time unwarranted. Trying to buy him a trip to the FT line, and so far it looks like its working. Someone who can drain shots on you, but would perfer to try to bail himself out and get a couple easy FT shots. Iverson hits the deck all the time too, but his are never fake. I cant believe how many times Wade can get to the line, almost whenever he wants. point is Jordan is great because he beat you legit, where as Wade had to use the refs, FT attempts, to make himself look great. Great players dont fall on the ground 20 times a game trying to get a foul called. To me that is a pussy, and not a true warrior of the game.

[Sauru]

anyone get a count of how many times he pumped faked trying to draw a foul? it was great in the later games to watch him try that lame pump fake move to get to the line but to watch the mavs not fall for it. i actually liked wade before these finals, now that i have seen him play i really dislike the guy and think he is highly overrated.

[BIG GREEN]

Jaesus christ. Sauru..this is the 4th miami/wade attack post you've made in a row and i'm sure more are gonna come. It's wade's turn for the jordan, kobe and lebron type bashing huh? That's how a player knows he's arrived to superstar status...when you have most people loving them..and few pure haters. Good stuff.

[Fenix]

Actually, I'd pretty much say it's a whole bunch of haters out there. And for the record - I don't hate Wade, I just hate what he represents.

Prevenas wrote two great articles on the topic:
http://nbadraft.net/prevenas066.asp
http://nbadraft.net/prevenas067.asp

[hipn]

................................ Flopping is the way to play in this era for a lot of players in the league. Even Soccer is doing it. Next sport will be football or lacross.

[-Young Buck-]

I dont hate wade either, i think he is a really good player. I just dont like how he goes about getting to the line, i thought he would have more pride in himself to do something as falling to the floor trying to draw fouls. Plus he is always complaining when he doesnt get a call he expects to get. He should be the best player he can be, but instead he is trying to use the rules in a bad way to make it easier for himself.

[Abctest123]

This comparison is way too early in my opinion, let Wade be in his prime years, then do the comparison. You cant truly make a comparison until you've seen the max a player can do. One thing I'll give Wade is he's the best guard I've seen at using the backboard in some time.

[j.23]

Dwyane Wade is a great basketball player, and his performance in the Finals was remarkable to watch. It was truly Jordan-like.

That said, there's still plent of room separating between him and Jordan. Give me a 24 year-old Wade over a 24 year-old Jordan, but Jordan in his prime was incredible in ever aspect of the game. Jordan 1990-1993 would eat D-Wade alive.
.

couldn't have said it better myself - the way he attacked defenses was simply amazing. there could've been three people clogging the lane and either he'd:

a.) shoot over them
b.) find a gap and make a shot
c.) both a&b

here are some videos to go along with it:

Jordan busting 56 points in a 1992 playoff game against The Heat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVcwa99dBB4

64 points against Shaq (with a loss) in 1993
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mjwyLp6OiM

55 against the Suns in the Finals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihOmTU4c5KE

[Axel]

Even if Wade doesn't have as much talent Jordan, I think it can be said that their style of play is very similar.

[_marsal]

but instead he is trying to use the rules in a bad way to make it easier for himself.

A question - imagine:

Would you use the shortcut to get 1 000 000 dollars or would you rather use the regular way? Both rodes are legal. Which one do you choose?

What i'm saying is that Wade is just playing by the rules. It's obviously working for him since he won the MVP finals and championship awards. Why not give him credit? Every other player has the same prospects to "use those rules". But he is the only one that succeded..

And by far is Wade closer to MJ than Kobe. Not so much because of the style or playing abilities but because he (Wade) can get his teammates involved while Kobe can't. Jordan could do that. And if you wan't to be truly a great player, you must make your teammates better.

[-Young Buck-]

he shouldnt abuse the rules though. A foul isnt there to bail someone out, especially if he is acting. I just think he should own up, and not abuse the foul rule to his advantage, its cheap, especially the way he does it. If this continues, in the future everyone will be driving and flipping all over the floor, and the game wont be basketball anymore, it will be who can act the best. I dont want to see the game of basketball destroyed.

[Sauru]

Jaesus christ. Sauru..this is the 4th miami/wade attack post you've made in a row and i'm sure more are gonna come. It's wade's turn for the jordan, kobe and lebron type bashing huh? That's how a player knows he's arrived to superstar status...when you have most people loving them..and few pure haters. Good stuff.

its not really him i am bashing, if he needs to flop to win good for him, its the nba. the nba needs to fix alot of things and these nba finals just flat out proved that.

[GloveGuy]

its an insult to compare the 2. personally i see wade as the next reggie miller. miller was the king at flopping and jumping into defenders to get foul calls, now the torch has been passed to wade who is soft and depends mostly on refs to play well. actually i dont think miller jumped on the ground as much as wade does, maybe i am insulting miller now.....


either way, jordan was a man and played a mans game. wade is a boy trying to hide behind the refs

Comparing does not imply equality. Show me a shooting guard since Jordan who's been able to consistently raise his game when it matters as much as Wade has, and then I'll call the comparison unjust. Don't deny the similarities.

Let's not act as if Jordan never got star treatment from the ref. He did. He got it just as much as Wade does. It was certainly evident in his last play for the Bulls where the ref could have easily called two fouls: 1) the slap on Malone, 2) the push-off of Russell.

The thing is, I'm not even saying this is bad. Stars get the calls. It's always been that way. But don't dismiss the comparison because you think Wade hides behind the refs. The refs loved MJ.

D-Wade plays to win. Let's not act as if he doesn't take jumpshots during the 4th quarter -- he constantly does. He's perfected that mid-range pull-up. There's no shame in drawing a foul. Say what you want about the phantom calls, but very rarely do I question a call made by the refs. Pretty much all the whistles blown for Wade are justified.

Take it out on the system, take it out on the refs, Stern, the league, but don't take it out on Wade. The guy's a winner, simple as that.

[Joe']

Wade's not Jordan, no one's like Jordan, end point.

[GloveGuy]

Wade's not Jordan, no one's like Jordan, end point.

No one's saying he is. Like I said, a comparison does not imply equality. We're just looking at the similarities, which are evident and undeniable.

[funk99]

True Wade's not Jordan, Wade is Dwyane Wade.

[magius]

wade is nowhere close to mj...but in my mind he is now at the very least on par with kobe (and imho exceeds him).

don't talk about wade being 'dishonorable'... there were plenty of players who played 'cheap' back in the glory days. Wade gets to the foul line because he doesn't settle for the 3 and drives to the basket almost every time, theres nothing cheap about that. Its called smart basketball. He sells his fouls as much as any other player in todays nba... were you completely blind to how dirk would go sliding halfway down the court so often when anyone even so much as glanced at him? there is not a player in today's nba that doesn't sell foul; and don't forget it does take skill to even get into such a position. Saying wade is less of a player because of that is as riduculous as saying mj is less of a player for pushing off his fadeaways. Point is wade plays the game the right way, he doesn't force the issue, and he takes the shots that are either high percentage to get fouled or high percentage period. Is it true that sometimes the call is wrong or unwarranted? sure. but the way wade plays, the shots he takes, he increases that percentage exponentially.

Wade is not even one of my top 5 favroite players in the nba, but I have to admit that he and lebron are great for basketball; they are an example of how the game should be played as opposed to most other superstars who have clouded our airwaves for the past couple of years.

imo wade is a hybrid between ai and mj.

[Fenix]

Comparing does not imply equality. Show me a shooting guard since Jordan who's been able to consistently raise his game when it matters as much as Wade has, and then I'll call the comparison unjust. Don't deny the similarities.

Let's not act as if Jordan never got star treatment from the ref. He did. He got it just as much as Wade does. It was certainly evident in his last play for the Bulls where the ref could have easily called two fouls: 1) the slap on Malone, 2) the push-off of Russell.

The thing is, I'm not even saying this is bad. Stars get the calls. It's always been that way. But don't dismiss the comparison because you think Wade hides behind the refs. The refs loved MJ.

D-Wade plays to win. Let's not act as if he doesn't take jumpshots during the 4th quarter -- he constantly does. He's perfected that mid-range pull-up. There's no shame in drawing a foul. Say what you want about the phantom calls, but very rarely do I question a call made by the refs. Pretty much all the whistles blown for Wade are justified.

Take it out on the system, take it out on the refs, Stern, the league, but don't take it out on Wade. The guy's a winner, simple as that.

Like I said before, Wade's FTA in the Finals exceeds Jordan's average in his 6 Finals for almost 50%. Wade shot over 800 FT this year. The only years Jordan did that wer '87 and '88, when he was averaging 37 and 35 points per game. Wade averaged 27 ppg. Considering they play quite similar at this point of their career, Wade gets a bit more star treatment than Jordan did, don't you think? In fact, change the rules back to what they were in the 90's, and Wade
a.)averages A LOT less FTA;
b.)it becomes much harder for him to get to the basket;
And voila!, you get a 20 ppg scorer.

[Andrew]

The comparisons get blown out of proportion with the media's willingness to sell us the "next Michael Jordan" and establish Wade's performance in NBA lore. That's what I dislike about the NBA these days, today's stars cannot carve their own niche in history and establish their own identity.

It's way too early to be putting Wade in the same league as Michael Jordan and the other all-time greats but he does share some of the same traits they demonstrated: the will to win, elevating his game when his team needs it the most, impressive numbers...and of course, he now has a championship to go along with it. That said, he's got a long way to go before he joins the elite ranks of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell and co. Putting aside individual talents, stats and accomplishments for a moment, the simple fact they maintained excellence for more than a decade puts them in a class of their own.

[Weiland]

wade definetely is on of the top 3 player in the league... but still not comparable to jordan. nowadays teams rely on all star players not on role players to win championships. look at the case of zo. who the hell cares about his disease,the league doesnt grant charity chanpionships for player with transplants or watsoever.why call him a warrior?he's still better than most of the centers in the nba.why play behind shaq?dats so gay!! can u imagine carmelo anthony or lebron james teaming up with wade when they're in their mid 30's just to win a championship?i thnk thats gay. that's the case of payton,walker and mourning..they're a bunch of losers

[GloveGuy]

Like I said before, Wade's FTA in the Finals exceeds Jordan's average in his 6 Finals for almost 50%. Wade shot over 800 FT this year. The only years Jordan did that wer '87 and '88, when he was averaging 37 and 35 points per game. Wade averaged 27 ppg. Considering they play quite similar at this point of their career, Wade gets a bit more star treatment than Jordan did, don't you think? In fact, change the rules back to what they were in the 90's, and Wade
a.)averages A LOT less FTA;
b.)it becomes much harder for him to get to the basket;
And voila!, you get a 20 ppg scorer.

Wade was still more of a slasher than Jordan ever was, who relied much more heavily on the jumpshot, even earlier in his career. You really can't look at the statistics, bud.

We all know that more fouls are called these days, but it has nothing to do with star treatment. It's just a different all-around standard regarding what is a foul and what isn't. Nevertheless, you can't measure "star treatment" of different eras since the standard is different and the playing styles differed slightly so Wade should naturally receive more free throw attempts.

Either way, Wade's performance(s) was nothing short of remarkable, and truly warranted a comparison to one of Michael Jordan.

Weiland, you're an idiot.

[Cyaneyes]

I am with Sauru, Fenix and j.23. It's a pleasure to read your smart opinions, great stuff

Like Bill Simmons would say: "I want to say something about Dwayne Wade, but I fear I may get called for a foul."

Well, I will say something; Mr. Flopper is not MJ, never ever will

[-Young Buck-]

Like Bill Simmons would say: "I want to say something about Dwayne Wade, but I fear I may get called for a foul."

greatest quote ever