Dwyane Wade for MVP?

A year ago, it seemed that the Miami Heat were at the beginning of a long rebuilding era. 

A past his prime, but still effective Shaq had been traded away, and a past his prime, but still fiercely competitive and gutsy Alonzo Mourning had gone down with a serious knee injury. 

Most disturbingly for Heat fans, however, was that it was beginning to look like the best days of Dwyane Wade were behind him. He was still putting up numbers (24 ppg and 7 apg), but he never seemed like “Flash” during that entire season. 

The explosiveness that defines his game just wasn’t there and it really looked like getting knocked to the floor time and time again was taking its toll on his body. Fielding what was truly one of the worst teams in NBA history at the end of 07-08, Miami shut down D-Wade for the final quarter of the season to undergo knee treatment. 

I remember wondering if his career would take on a Penny Hardaway look, after the knee injuries, and if he would ever be the same again.

Like everyone else, the next time I saw D-Wade play was during the Olympics. I wrote a post covering Team USA’s dismantling of Greece. As I sit here I don’t remember the specifics of the game at all. I couldn’t tell you what Kobe or Lebron did,  but I vividly remember thinking that D-Wade was everywhere, was doing everything, and was absolutely the best player on the floor. 

And his performance the other night (48 points and 12 assists), capped by this play to win the game was amazing.

A quick look at the numbers gives plenty of support to the D-Wade for MVP argument.  He scores more with a higher shooting percentage (29.7 ppg and 49.5% from the field) than Lebron (28.1 ppg and 48.8%) or Kobe (27.8 ppg and 47.2%) and for my money, he is a better defender than either of them.  

I doubt D-Wade will get votes for MVP because his team isn’t on par with the Lakers or Cavs, but to me, if you are looking for the best player in the league right now, he’s not in Cleveland or LA.

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