Why Dwyane Wade is Still Miami Heat's Most Valuable Player

All statistics aside, there is no arguing that Dwyane Wade is the Miami Heat's most valuable player.

Yes, both Dwyane Wade and LeBron James shared the best player of December award, but it is Wade who has stepped up his game astronomically the last month and a half.

Defense wins championships and the Heat are currently the best defensive team in the NBA.

Dwyane Wade's defense has improved against tough offensive players, yet his offense has not seen any sort of drop. Conversely, the man aptly nicknamed Flash back in the day, is looking like the athletic beast who was nothing short but a juggernaut against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals.

He was able to contain Kobe Bryant (yes, many teams are doing that these days), a person still considered to be the best overall player in the league by fans and NBA pundits alike.

Heading into this season, Wade could have easily been overshadowed by James' play; however, he has outperformed James for the most part. Yes, James will always get more rebounds and assists, but Wade has had the more timely scoring.

The only blemishes on Wade's season so far were the two games versus the Boston Celtics. Even though the Irish are looking like the Heat's biggest obstacle to reach the NBA Finals, those two losses were very early in the season.

Early in the season when the Heat went 9-8 and were still developing the proverbial yet relevant "team chemistry."

Wade did light up the Boston Celtics in the playoffs last season, so there is no reason why he can't repeat last season's performance.

With the Heat's Big Three all in their 20s and the Celtics' Big Three in their 30s, Wade and his team will prevail in playoffs now and years from now.

Until then, Wade is the one player the Heat cannot afford to struggle or become injured.