In the late 2000s, there was a heated debate over whether the best basketball player in the world was Kobe Bryant or LeBron James. At the time, Kobe was royalty, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to back-to-back NBA championships while posting consistently stellar numbers.
But James has put up better numbers for the Cleveland Cavaliers, leading some to believe he has surpassed the Black Mamba, especially since he was named regular season MVP in 2009 and 2010.
Meanwhile, Dwyane Wade is having an incredible year with the Miami Heat. In the 2008-09 season, he averaged the league’s first 30.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.3 blocks per game, but he ranked third in the MVP voting, behind James and Kobe.
Wade tells Pro Football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe “Shea Club” He, not James, deserved the award that year (h/t The Sports Rush).
“Absolutely,” Wade said when asked if he should have won the MVP in 2009. “But I also understand why LeBron would win this award. I think they won 67 games and he averaged about the same number. Like I understand that, but as an individual player, that’s where I get the MVP. year.”
Wade has never won an MVP in the regular season, while James has won such an award four times. But the Marquette product did win three world championships, including the 2006 NBA Finals MVP award. Of course, two of those championship rings came after James took his talents to Miami to join forces with Wade.
Wade’s performance in the 2006 championship series rivals anything anyone else has done in league history, including Kobe or James, or for that matter, Michael Jordan, on that stage.
Story originally appeared on LeBron Wire