NBA Finals 2011: LeBron James Is Third Best Player on the Court

With three games in the books between the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks in this year’s 2011 NBA Finals it has become apparent that Dwayne Wade and Dirk Nowitzki are the two best players in the field in that order.

Sorry to the millions of LeBron fans around the world but he is clearly the third best player on the court.

Wade has been nothing short of spectacular thus far and with his team leading two games to one, having held on for the pivotal Game 3 victory last night, Wade is on track for his second NBA Finals MVP.

How good has Wade been?

How about 29 points, 8.7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game good.  Even more astounding, Wade is 34-60 (57%) shooting from the field and has committed only four turnovers the entire series.  To put that in perspective LeBron had four turnovers in game three alone and Nowitzki is averaging four turnovers per game thus far in the finals. 

Wade is absolutely filling up the stat sheet, but it is more than stats that has separated Wade from the other superstars in this edition of the NBA Finals, it is his will, his intensity, his passion and drive.  The competitive nature of his game is seen in every jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring drive to the basket only to be topped by his blanket like defense.

Even from the stands or sitting at home in your living room you can see the intensity and fire in his eyes.  Wade is doing everything possible to bring home another ring.  At this point it is hard to imagine that anything will stand in the way of Wade, even a stellar performance from another future Hall-of-Famer, Dirk Nowitzki.

In any other NBA Finals series—not featuring Wade—Nowitzki would be heralded as the best player on the planet.  Nowitzki has been terrific, averaging just under 29 points per game while grabbing 10 rebounds per contest. 

Last night the big German even turned up his defense denying several buckets with three key blocks.  In addition, Nowitzki continues to display machine-like consistency from the free throw line; Nowitzki is now a perfect 24-24 in the NBA Finals and a ridiculous 154-164 in the playoffs.

Even more spectacular is the fact that Nowitzki has now scored in double figures in the fourth quarter 11 of 18 playoff games.  Even when everyone in the world knows Dirk is going to get the ball he still produces clutch play after clutch play down the stretch.  Nowitzki scored 15 points in last night’s fourth quarter and if he’d had any help the Mavs may have been able to pull out a Game 3 victory.

Wade has the unparalleled luxury of having LeBron James as second option down the stretch—Nowitzki has Jason Terry—this fact makes what Nowitzki is accomplishing even more impressive.  The Dallas offense starts and stops with Nowitzki.

It is not a knock of LeBron James to say that he is the third best player in these NBA Finals.  What D-Wade and Dirk are accomplishing is nothing short of remarkable, LeBron has had a fine NBA Finals; he has made big plays on both ends of the floor and has at times carried his team. 

LeBron is very respectably averaging just over 20 points per game, while grabbing 6.7 rebounds and dishing 6 assists per game thus far in the NBA Finals.  Additionally, the King is leading the Finals in steals per game at 2.3 and he is also shooting 51 percent from the field. 

James is displaying solid and smart play on both ends of the floor.

Again, I am not degrading what LeBron is doing in this series; he is playing a strong supporting role to Wade.  LeBron is Pippen to Jordan, or Kobe to Shaq, or Robert de Niro to Al Pacino in The Godfather Two. 

It may be LeBron’s willingness to play more of a supporting role to Wade that will ultimately help this Heat team bring the bling back to the beach and overcome the Nowitzki-led Mavericks.

What we are witnessing in these Finals are two of the game’s greatest individual scorers and closers playing at their absolute best in Wade and Nowitzki. 

Whether the Heat hang on and win or Dallas makes history by coming back after the Game 3 loss, James will not be crowned the Finals MVP this year.