LeBron James vs. Dwyane Wade on ESPN NBA Rank: There Should Be a Tie at First

Holy spinning tomahawks, Batman!

So ESPN released their player rankings last week and, surprise, surprise, guess who's number one? That's right, The Great Decider himself.

Coming in two spots behind him at number three, his BFF Dwyane, forming a Dwight Howard sandwich for an all-Florida podium.

Now, I have my issues elsewhere on this list, but my main gripe is LeBron as the clear-cut top dog. Not because he doesn't deserve the spot, but because Wade doesn't belong so far behind him. In my opinion, you could have tossed a coin for first (sorry, Dwight.)

This is something we all know already, but LeBron isn't clearly the best player on his own team. No matter how great the focus on individual talent, the unique context he plays in does have a bearing on the gap between himself and rest of the pack.

LeBron has a genetic head start on D-Wade, which I believe is what puts him over the top in any discussion including this one. His size and mass let him do things and compile numbers that nobody else is capable of, but pound for pound, Wade is still the better ballplayer.

Meanwhile, I'm not stupid; I realize LeBron has one of the league's most dangerous skill sets, and even in light of his recently-exposed liabilities between the ears, you'd have to be crazy not to at least have him in the discussion for first.

The only ideal scenario in my book would have been a tie at first. LeBron and Wade are basically the same player in different shapes and sizes, each has some advantage over the other and they more or less cancel each other out head-to-head.

Their outputs on the court is pretty much identical with the exception of LeBron's advantage in the assist department. Not to be misconstrued as a sign of superior skills, this is just a reflection of James and Wade's roles as playmaker and go-to finisher, respectively. Wade can set guys up with the best of them.

Also, as much as there is any kind of pecking order on the Heat, in a crisis, Wade is still Michael and LeBron is still Scottie. Wade is a more reliable offensive weapon under heavy duress, and LeBron is the Swiss Army knife versatile sidekick who is no slouch by comparison.

There have been co-MVPs before, and a couple of shared regular-season awards. The league is ripe for its first ever regular season co-MVPs. I say if either of these guys were to win another MVP,  they should both be on either side of the Podoloff trophy in the history books.

As far as rankings go, I have no clear-cut evidence that these two aren't equally gifted and dangerous, and I'm not convinced by this easy consensus in favor of James. It seems to me we now look for compelling reasons not to rank him first, as opposed to the other way around like everybody else.

Right now, Dwyane Wade is basically Kobe circa 2008, widely regarded as the league's best at the time for reasons all too similar to Wade's. He was a crafty, deadly scorer who seemed at times like he just did as he pleased on the floor.

The same Kobe who was considered better than even LeBron, who hasn't changed much since then. While that fact doesn't give Wade the upper hand by default, it is not to be overlooked; these are still the qualities we hold in high regard, are they not?

There's a big blackboard in my head riddled with numbers, Greek letters and square root signs (a few dunking stick figures) and the math just doesn't add up in anyone's favor.

To have LeBron so clearly ahead of D-Wade is to ignore those areas in which the latter is the alpha to the former. Meanwhile, there's also no ignoring the reality of LeBron's physical edge come game time.

Since their fates are so intertwined anyway, and since there's nobody I'd rank higher, it follows that they would have no place to be tied except first.

For the record, they'd be followed by Dwight, Dirk and Kobe.