The Miami Heat guard and perennial All-Star Dwyane Wade will no longer be playing alongside his buddy LeBron James after the James decided to return to his home town team the Cleveland Cavaliers. The two superstars and close friends played for four seasons with the Miami Heat - a union that produced four consecutive NBA finals appearances and back-to-back championships.
In a recent media interview, Wade revealed that he will be looking forward to playing against LeBron more than any other player this coming 2014-2015 NBA season. He also fired off some jobs to his former teammate saying:
Well, it used to be Kobe Bryant... the second best all time.... now, I have a new favorite player to play against... my former teammate, LeBron James.
Never mind that Wade will be pumped up in playing against LeBron next season. What's more important to digest in Wade's statement is the fact that he called Kobe Bryant the second-best player of all time. Obviously, Micahel Jordan is number one so if Wade thinks that Bryant is the second best player in league history then that simply means Kobe is better than LeBron.
Wade may perhaps hold some resentment and bitterness from LeBron's departure that's why he made such a somewhat controversial statement but a few NBA analyst's, which includes the Hall of Famer Charles Barkley during a June appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, also believe that Bryant is still better than James simply because he has won more NBA championships. Here is what Barkely said about the topic:
I always find it fascinating...'Did [Kobe] die or something?' because LeBron has two championships, and they just forget that Kobe has five. And they're like how good is he compared to Michael Jordan, I say Kobe still has more. I think he's closer to catching Kobe than he is Michael.
But perhaps we may have just misread Wade's statement and what he really meant with those words was "second best shooting guard of all time" meaning that Kobe is trailing Jordan for first and that Wade sees himself as the 3rd best. Maybe he was not really taking a jab at LeBron after all?
No one knows what Dwyane meant or felt when he said that Kobe Bryant was second best of all time. Maybe he was just bitter on LeBron's decision to leave and was clouded in his judgement. But Bryant clearly has more rings than LeBron and this is something that anyone cannot deny.
Join the Conversation