Remember When Dwyane Wade Was Going To Be MVP?

The regular season scoring champion, Dwyane Wade, was expected to continue his one-man juggernaut show in the playoffs. He also averaged 2.19 steals a game and 7.5 assists during the regular season.

Wade put up MVP-worthy stats all year, but his team’s inability to maintain a consistent effort kept him from winning the award.

As these playoffs continue, we are seeing the why the Lebron James-Dwyane Wade comparison isn’t nearly as close as we thought it was.

James and Wade are both leaders of their respective teams on both ends of the court. They were one and two in scoring in the league this year, while averaging over seven APG (D-Wade averaged 7.5, James averaged 7.2).

They are also the No. 1 offensive options for their offenses, with their ability to consistently create chaos for the opposition. 

On the flip side, they also provide leadership on the defensive side, with Wade averaging an incredible 2.19 steals a game and 1.34 blocks while James averaged 1.69 steals and 1.15 blocks (usually smacking the ball into the third row).

The main difference between the two this season was the lack of a decent supporting cast for Wade.

Now that the Heat have Jermaine O’Neal, a past All-Star, along with Udonis Haslem, who brings athleticism as well as very good medium to short range jumper, their frontcourt should provide enough talent and firepower to make them a legitimate contender.

At the point guard position, Mario Chalmers is young, but is not new to the big game scene with his clutch three last year to push underdog Jayhawks past Memphis. Chalmers also provides ample range in order to stretch the floor a bit for Wade.

James Jones has provided 10 PPG from the small forward position while shooting an amazing 60 percent from downtown.

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