Kobe Bryant vs. Dwyane Wade: Comparing Their First 8 Seasons in the NBA

This year, a small amount of controversy was stirred up when Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers got the nod as the shooting guard on the All-NBA First Team over the Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade.

The two shooting guards both put up great numbers, as usual, but people took exception to Kobe getting the selection, almost as a done deal, with no regard to Wade whatsoever.

Kobe and Wade have been pitted against each other for a number of years now. Considering the fact that they are the two best players at their position in the league (and have been since around 2006 or so), that's not hard to imagine.

People take their side, fans spar on the issue and in the end, nobody ever really comes out and changes their mind.  They just argue their side, get frustrated and end up pointing out that one guy wouldn't have a title if it weren't for Shaq, while the other was accused of rape, as these arguments always seem to boil down to attacking the person, rather than the basketball player.

Many people look at Kobe and call him the best basketball player since Michael Jordan, and that's a legitimate point that can be argued (I'm more in the Tim Duncan party myself, but won't discount Kobe lovers), and with Wade trying to usurp his spot as the best shooting guard in the game, it's naturally going to rile people up.

So I decided to throw my hat into the ring on this argument and do the only rational thing I could think of.  I have taken the first eight years of Kobe's career and stacked them up against the first eight of Wade's.  Let's see how things pan out, shall we?

First Year

Kobe Bryant (1997):  7.6 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.6 apg, 42-38-82 shooting percentages.

The Los Angeles Lakers made a big move to get Kobe Bryant in the purple and gold, trading away their starting center Vlade Divac for his draft rights.  It's now looked at as a lopsided trade, but at the time there was a bit of risk involved.

Kobe had a decent rookie year, even making the All-Rookie second team, but he never really took off in his first season in the league like his opponent in this argument did.

Dwyane Wade (2003):  16.2ppg, 4 rpg, 4.5 apg, 47-30-75 shooting percentages.

With the Miami Heat, Dwyane Wade became one of the three most important guys on his team in the first few weeks of the season, and ended up putting up some very impressive numbers as a rookie. 

If it weren't for the fact that he came into the league with LeBron James and about a dozen other very good basketball players, he may have won the Rookie of the Year Award.  Instead, he'll have to settle for an All-Rookie First Team selection.

Winner: Dwyane Wade

Going to college definitely helped Wade in the early points of his career.  While Kobe was still learning the nuances of the NBA game well into his rookie year, Wade was hitting his stride and helping to lead his team to the playoffs.

Fun fact: Eddie Jones led both the Lakers and Heat in scoring in each player's respective rookie season.

Year Two

Kobe Bryant (1998): 15.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.5 apg, 43-34-79 shooting percentages. All-Star Selection.

This is the point where it looks like the Shaqobe combination is looking like it could be something special in the near future.

Kobe more than doubled his output in every offensive category, continued his impressive shooting and made huge improvements on defense.  The first indications of his super-stardom came in this season.

Dwyane Wade (2004):  24.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 6.8 apg, 49-29-76 shooting percentages. All-Star Selection. All-Defense, All-NBA Second Teams.

While Kobe was improving by leaps and bounds, Dwyane Wade was doing the same thing, adding nearly ten points to his per game average, as well as improvements rebounding, passing and on defense.

Winner: Dwyane Wade

Wade's impact in the playoffs is what gets him the nod here, otherwise I was willing to go with Kobe's amazing improvement as the reason for picking him.

However, once the playoffs rolled around, Wade took this team by the reigns, averaging nearly 28 points a game in still just his second season in the league.

Kobe, meanwhile, was delegated to a much lesser role in the playoffs, scoring just over eight points a game.

Year Three

Kobe Bryant (1999):  19.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.8 apg, 47-27-84 shooting percentages. All-NBA Third Team.

This is the point in which Kobe Bryant is starting to look like he could become more than just a superstar, but instead a very special, once in a decade type of player.

Kobe's numbers continued to improve, he learned to rebound much better and had those Kobe moments that we are all so accustomed to where he would do something completely unbelievable like score while falling down from an angle behind the basket that just seemed absurd.

Dwyane Wade (2006):  27.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 6.7 apg, 50-17-78 shooting percentages. All-Star Selection. All-NBA Second Team. NBA Finals MVP, NBA Championship.

However good Kobe was in his third year, Wade was better by a head, neck and shoulders.  Wade became the best player on his team, without a doubt, and began to challenge the best shooting guard in the league (Kobe) for his title as the best shooting guard in the league.

Wade banded together his men this season as the unquestioned alpha dog, and just three years into the league won an NBA Championship, with a bit of help from Shaq.

Winner: It's hard to argue with hardware, and in the end, Wade won his first ring just three years into the league while Kobe was still learning some more subtle points to the game, but don't think this one is a run-away yet; Kobe still has some tricks up his sleeve.

Year Four

Kobe Bryant (2000): 22.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 4.9 apg, 47-32-82 shooting percentages. All-Star Selection. All-NBA Second Team and All-Defensive First Team.  Championship.

2000 is the year that Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal coincided as a clear cut number one and number two on the Lakers.  Shaq was the alpha dog, Kobe was the sidekick.

Kobe continued to improve on the offensive end of the ball, but his real improvements came as a defender.  Kobe became something of a shutdown corner if ever there could be such a thing on a basketball court, absolutely inhaling his man and refusing to let him get to the hole.

On top of that, it was the first season of the Shaqobe three-peat that not only created so many Kobe lovers, but just as many Kobe haters.

Dwyane Wade (2007):  27.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 7.5 apg, 49-27-81 shooting percentages. All-Star Selection. All-NBA Third Team.

On the surface, I felt like it was easy to take the numbers that Wade put up in his fourth season and declare a clear-cut winner, but it wouldn't make sense to give the nod to him this season.

This is the first year that Wade started to struggle with injury problems, playing in just 51 games after many bumps and bruises, including a dislocated shoulder that kept him out of 23 games.

After re-joining the team for the playoffs, Wade had a lackluster playoff series by every account, and the Heat were bounced from the postseason in four games by the Chicago Bulls.

Winner:  Kobe Bryant

Even though this year's playoffs was about Shaq's dominance of everyone that even thought about guarding him, Kobe's play was nothing to shake a stick at.

Still putting up similar numbers, Bryant made his biggest impact on defense, constantly pestering any guard with the ball, daring him to take it in and rather take his chances with Shaq down low.

He was key to this team, and a huge reason they made their run to their first of three straight championships.

Year Five

Kobe Bryant (2001):  28.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 5 apg, 46-31-85 shooting percentages. All-Star Selection. All-NBA and All-Defensive Second Teams. Championship.

This is the year that began the building of the legend that is Kobe Bryant.  In what could arguably be called his most impressive season as a part of the Shaqobe duo, Bryant battled Shaq to become the alpha-dog of the Lakers to the point where they each were just over a point away from averaging 30 points a game.

Kobe couldn't dethrone Shaq as the team's go-to guy, but his vast improvement on offense and his still stellar play on defense earned him the recognition he deserved in the league, plus another ring.

Dwyane Wade (2008):  24.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 6.9 apg, 47-29-77 shooting percentages. All-Star Selection. (Injury)

After another year of injuries from Dwyane Wade, Shaq getting shipped out of town and the team relying on Ricky Davis to be the main guy to pick up the slack with Wade out, it goes without saying that Miami missed the playoffs.

Wade battled through injuries all season to play until the final few months rolled around and the Heat had the worst record in the NBA.  He sat out the remainder of the season after having treatment on his left knee, missing 21 games.

Winner: Kobe Bryant

This one is a without-a-doubt no-brainer.  Sure, Kobe is starting to get a bit of a head on his shoulders, and housing both his and Shaq's egos in Staples Center is starting to get a bit crowded, but the man had his best season yet in a year where he won a championship.

The nod goes to Kobe on this one.

Year Six

Kobe Bryant (2002):  25.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5.5 apg, 47-25-83, shooting percentages. All-Star Selection. All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive Teams. Championship.

For the second year in a row, Kobe goes up against Shaq, challenging him to his title as the number one option on the team, as the two began to butt heads a bit more often.

Still, they were able to coexist long enough to win another championship.  In their third title season, Kobe continued to put up impressive numbers, and ended up getting selected to the All-NBA and All-Defensive First teams—no easy feat.

Dwyane Wade (2009):  30.2 ppg, 5 rpg, 7.5 apg, 49-32-77 shooting percentages. All-Star Selection. All-NBA First Team, All-Defensive Second Team. Scoring Leader.

Meanwhile, Wade came back from his injuries like a man possessed.  He dramatically improved his scoring numbers from the previous season while still improving his passing, averaging a career high 7.5 assists a game.

The only confusing thing is that Wade seemed to have decided in this season that he was a three-point shooter.  After barely topping 75 attempts in each of the past three seasons, Wade inexplicably put up 278 three-pointers while still shooting at a career best, yet very low 32 percent.

My thought here is that this being Erik Spoelstra's first season coaching the Heat, Wade was able to get away with a lot more than he would have been able to under Pat Riley, like deciding to shoot the three four times a game when he still was just the third best (if that) three-point shooter on his team.

Winner: Kobe Bryant

Even though Wade had the impressive season leading the league in scoring, I still have to give the nod to Bryant in this season.

Kobe and Shaq started fighting on a much larger scale this season, but it wasn't enough to distract them from their ultimate goal of winning another championship.

Besides, being option 1B on a championship team is still better than being the number one option on a fifth-seed team that loses in the first round of the playoffs.

Year Seven

Kobe Bryant (2003):  30 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 5.9 apg, 45-38-84, shooting percentages. All-Star Selection. All-NBA and All-Defensive First Teams.

This was the year that some fighting and squabbles became very public for the Lakers, and it showed in the playoffs when they were bested by the levelheaded San Antonio Spurs in the second round.

Kobe grabbed hold of the reigns to the Los Angeles Lakers and has yet to let go at this point, which created tension between he and Shaq.

He had an amazing season, but his arrogance, and some might even say hubris caused the beginning of the downfall of the Lakers dynasty.

Dwyane Wade (2010):  26.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 6.5 apg, 48-30-76 shooting percentages. All-Star Selection. All-NBA First Team, All-Defensive Second Team.

This season may have been one of Wade's most impressive in terms of leading a team of scrubs, old guys, guys who were too young and Udonis Haslem to the playoffs.

He played well for the entire season, and at this point had pretty much shaken off any fears that Heat fans had of him being injury prone.

Wade led the likes of a stoned Michael Beasley, an old no knee-having Jermaine O'Neal, Udonis Haslem relegated to sixth man status, a regressing Mario Chalmers and a quickly-becoming-a-has-been Quentin Richardson.

Winner: Kobe Bryant

Even with all of the internal problems, I still have to pick Kobe here as the winner of this season. 

Sure, his takeover of the Lakers as the new number one guy was terrible for the team, but he can't be completely blamed for that.  At some point, we have to look back and realize that Shaq reacted poorly to Kobe taking control of the Lakers and usurping him as the guy on the team.

In a way, when they lost in the playoffs to the Spurs, Shaq kind of gave off a vibe that said, "See, I told you you couldn't lead the team, Kobe."

Year Eight

Kobe Bryant (2004):  24 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5.1 apg, 44-33-85 shooting percentages. All-Star Selection. All-NBA and All-Defensvie First Teams.

This season, both Bryant and Wade found themselves on newly created super-teams, with the same result coming from each side.

Kobe reeled in his scoring a bit and curtailed his ball-hoggishness for the time being in order to get a better chance at another title.

He was able to lead a hobbled Lakers team of himself, Shaq, Gary Payton and Karl Malone to the finals, at which point they were bested by an actual "team," not just a compilation of great players.

Dwyane Wade (2011):  25.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 4.6 apg, 50-31-76 shooting percentages. All-Star Selection. All-NBA Second Team.

Dwyane Wade played a big part in getting LeBron James and Chris Bosh to come to Miami and take part in an orgy of media punishment and pundit tongue-lashings as the season went on, starting soon after they held a party just for compiling the team.

They held together under the pressure and made their way to the finals with the weight solely on their shoulders to make something happen.

He came across as the leader of this team, still deferring to LeBron as to not step on his ego and rile up the young fellow, and even made them look unbeatable at times.

Alas, they were beaten by an actual "team" in the finals, not just a compilation of great players (sound familiar?).

Winner:  Dwyane Wade

I have to give the slight edge to Dwyane for his handling of the egos on the super-team that he found himself running.

Wade knew he was building a house of cards on a freshly waxed table, and one foul move could either upset one of his new teammates or give the media so much firepower that the team implodes on itself.

Wade continued to keep up his numbers, improved a bit on shot selection from long-range and became the unquestioned leader of a team featuring another top-five player and a top-30 player in the league.

Winner: Dwyane Wade

With each man earning the nod in four years, Wade the first three and last one, and Kobe years four through seven, it was going to have to be a judgment call here.

However, looking closely, it was a bit easier than I thought it would be to call.  Wade obliterated Kobe in the first three years in the league, even becoming the leader of his team three years in, something it took Kobe seven years to do.

It may have made a bit more sense to start the comparison in Kobe's third year while starting Wade on his rookie season as Wade had two years of college before coming to the NBA, but ultimately I decided against it.

When judging the greatness of a player, everything the player has done must be taken into account, and Kobe's decision to forgo college was a decision that he made, and the consequences he must live with.

After eight years, both players were left with some interesting battles to fight.

Kobe had "driven" Shaq out of town and was left with a still-green Caron Butler, Chucky Atkins and Lamar Odom as his next three best players where once stood Shaq, Gary Payton and Karl Malone.

He started his own foray as the unabashed leader of his team until they either trade him (which nearly happened a few times) or until he got too old to do it anymore (still hasn't happened).

Wade, meanwhile, is looking at an unpredictable season where he isn't sure if he will be playing a full year of basketball or none at all.

Plus, he is going to have to deal with the idea of LeBron James folding in the fourth quarter if it continues into next season's playoffs, whether it means forcing James to take some shots or taking over the game completely by himself.

Wade could go on to be a better player than Kobe when it's all said and done, but over the next six years, Wade has two 30 point-per-game seasons, an MVP Award, an 82-point game and two more championships (and Finals MVP Awards) to overcome.

This could get interesting.

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