Dwayne. Mother fucking. Wade.
He is hands down the best player on that team.
Lebron has so much more raw talent and ability, but Wade has the intangibles.
Wade needs to start being compared to all time greats in all sports.
Jordan, Mr. Earvin "Magic"Johnson, Mariono Rivera, Joe Montana, Tom Brady and Dwayne Wade.
There will always be more talented players in the league, but never one with more drive.
I know he doesn't have the rings, but he has the same demeanor as those all time greats.
I *LOVE* Wade.
LOVE him.
But mentioning him ahead of Kobe is simply PREPOSTEROUS.
Kobe's a better shooter, a better scorer, a better defender, and was the driving/co-driving force behind FIVE championships.
He also plays through pain and despite injuries at a high level - Wade, on the other hand, misses chunks of games regularly.
And Kobe is still only 32 years old.
If the Lakers sign or trade for just ONE more excellent player, Kobe could very well get to 7 or 8 rings.
Wade won't even get to that number, even PLAYING THE BULK OF HIS CAREER WITH LeBRON.
Hate on Kobe for whatever reasons you'd like - but he RELISHES the idea of being the man, and winning titles WITHOUT another superstar (a la MJ, NOT a la LeBron or Wade).
You Kobe-haters can't have it both ways.
It not fair to laugh at Gasol's monumental melt-down in this year's play-offs without conceding that Kobe does NOT have a top-notch dependable second STUD - even MJ had superstar Scottie Pippen for every single one of his titles.
Until and unless Kobe passes MJ with 6 titles as The Man, MJ's still the GOAT.
But Kobe is CLEARLY second.
Wade's great, too.
But so are Bird, Magic, Hakeem and a few others.
Point being:
Fuck LeBron.