Does D-Wade have the least amount of Prime Years of any Top 25 player?

mdonnelly1989 · Post #1 » by **mdonnelly1989** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 8:41 am

When I think about Wades prime, although one of the best of all time maybe top 15 in terms of pure dominance...

I think what IMO keeps in him from being a top 15 player of all time, borderline top 20 is that his prime is really short in comparison to a lot of other players in the top 20...

-Luke- · Post #2 » by **-Luke-** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 9:47 am

Probably yes. If his prime ended somwhere at the end of that "Big Three" run in Miami, that would give him 7-8 prime years. The only other players with a relatively short prime I can think of off the top of my head are Bird and David Robinson (if you consider Robinson top 25). Bird because of injuries and Robinson because he was already 24 when he came into the league.

70sFan · Post #3 » by **70sFan** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 9:58 am

Yes and that's why I don't think he can be ranked inside top 25 anymore. I mean, he had at most 7 full superstar years (2005-07, 2009-12) and that's only slightly more than someone like Giannis (2018-22) who I don't consider to be close to top 25. Is Wade better than Giannis in those years? I guess it's arguable, but definitely the gap isn't enough to make him clearly ahead.

I think that Wade was slightly better basketball player at his peak than Durant, but Durant is having his 10th season on superstar level now (I don't count 2021, way too many games missed). How can I have Wade ahead of him?

Larry Bird has 10 superstar level seasons as well: 1980-88 + 1990. He also peaked higher than Wade. David Robinson also has more high quality seasons - he was basically a superstar until 2001, which gives him also 10 seasons (1990-96 and 1998-00).

The closest player possibly inside top 25 to Wade in terms of number of superstar seasons is probably Curry with 2013-19 + 2021-22, but even he has more of them.

No-more-rings · Post #4 » by **No-more-rings** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 1:43 pm

I mean given the longevity of KD, Curry, Paul, and Harden I don't think it's a given that Wade is still top 25. I'd probably still put him there because I'm high on his peak years.

I will say I sometimes think people underestimate Wade's number of relevant years. I feel like people mainly look at 06, 09-11 as the main chunk of his career value, but in 05 he was a top 3 playoff performer that year, and in 2012 he was still the clear 2nd option on a title team. Also people seem to also write off 2013 and 2016 as irrelevant, but in 2013 he was playing like a top 10 player during the regular season and had a strong finish in the finals. People say he was crap in 2016, but he was arguably the main reason they took the Raptors to 7 in the 2nd round. In those 3 wins he had statlines of 24/6/4/3/2 54 ts%, 30/4/2/2 57 ts% and 22/6/5/2/3 with only 1 turnover. He also had a 38/8/4 game on 67 ts% in one of the losses. Honestly with the way he played, they probably should've taken that series in 6 but Wade's age i think caught up with him in game 7 and he ran out of juice. Still though it's strange to me that season doesn't get counted by most people when talking about his career value.

SHAQ32 · Post #5 » by **SHAQ32** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 5:01 pm

Never considered him Top 25

sp6r=underrated · Post #6 » by **sp6r=underrated** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 5:30 pm

I'm not sure he's top 25 but I'm working on an internal list. Relative to era his longevity is poor which is a shame because of how amazing he was in his prime.

Dr Positivity · Post #7 » by **Dr Positivity** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 6:04 pm

Depends how high you rate some of the modern players

Im Your Father · Post #8 » by **Im Your Father** » Thu Mar 31, 2022 2:27 am

I think he does. Possible he falls out of the top 25 with the longevity of some current guys.

I would still take his peak over plenty of top 25ish folks though, including KD and Harden.

VanWest82 · Post #9 » by **VanWest82** » Thu Mar 31, 2022 3:02 am

70sFan wrote:I think that Wade was slightly better basketball player at his peak than Durant,.

falcolombardi · Post #10 » by **falcolombardi** » Thu Mar 31, 2022 3:07 am

VanWest82 wrote:
70sFan wrote:I think that Wade was slightly better basketball player at his peak than Durant,.

is that supposed to be a weird opinion?

VanWest82 · Post #11 » by **VanWest82** » Thu Mar 31, 2022 3:14 am

falcolombardi wrote:
VanWest82 wrote:
70sFan wrote:I think that Wade was slightly better basketball player at his peak than Durant,.

is that supposed to be a weird opinion?

I haven't seen anyone argue that before. I would say so yes. Wade was incredible but I don't think he ever got to the level of KD in 17-19. Is it an 06 Finals argument? Maybe I'm out to lunch here but I don't get it.

SeattleJazzFan · Post #12 » by **SeattleJazzFan** » Thu Mar 31, 2022 3:36 am

the only reason i have kobe ahead of wade (by one spot) is longevity. ultimately wade was a better player at their respective peaks.

Heat4lyf · Post #13 » by **Heat4lyf** » Thu Mar 31, 2022 3:53 am

10 year prime of 25/5/6
3 rings scoring title incredible defensively as well.
In a league with Kobe lebron Duncan garnett etc (top 10-25 players) playing at high levels stood at their level or above how can you not have him top 25 ?

mdonnelly1989 · Post #14 » by **mdonnelly1989** » Thu Mar 31, 2022 4:43 am

Heat4lyf wrote:10 year prime of 25/5/6
3 rings scoring title incredible defensively as well.
In a league with Kobe lebron Duncan garnett etc (top 10-25 players) playing at high levels stood at their level or above how can you not have him top 25 ?

I have him top 25 but not top 15 and right on the cusp of top 20. Not sure he's there in 5 years when you have guys like Giannis, Jokic and Embiid coming up on the top 25 fast.

mdonnelly1989 · Post #15 » by **mdonnelly1989** » Thu Mar 31, 2022 4:44 am

70sFan wrote:Yes and that's why I don't think he can be ranked inside top 25 anymore. I mean, he had at most 7 full superstar years (2005-07, 2009-12) and that's only slightly more than someone like Giannis (2018-22) who I don't consider to be close to top 25. Is Wade better than Giannis in those years? I guess it's arguable, but definitely the gap isn't enough to make him clearly ahead.

I think that Wade was slightly better basketball player at his peak than Durant, but Durant is having his 10th season on superstar level now (I don't count 2021, way too many games missed). How can I have Wade ahead of him?

Larry Bird has 10 superstar level seasons as well: 1980-88 + 1990. He also peaked higher than Wade. David Robinson also has more high quality seasons - he was basically a superstar until 2001, which gives him also 10 seasons (1990-96 and 1998-00).

The closest player possibly inside top 25 to Wade in terms of number of superstar seasons is probably Curry with 2013-19 + 2021-22, but even he has more of them.

I like how you broke down 10 years as the prime accomplishment no pun intended.

Bird clearly peaked higher, and was more dominant during his prime of winning 3 MVP's in a row. I also have David Robinson inside my top 25 just behind Moses Malone and KG.

Where do you rank Wade ATM on your all time list? My guess is probably top 30

70sFan · Post #16 » by **70sFan** » Thu Mar 31, 2022 5:57 am

mdonnelly1989 wrote:
70sFan wrote:Yes and that's why I don't think he can be ranked inside top 25 anymore. I mean, he had at most 7 full superstar years (2005-07, 2009-12) and that's only slightly more than someone like Giannis (2018-22) who I don't consider to be close to top 25. Is Wade better than Giannis in those years? I guess it's arguable, but definitely the gap isn't enough to make him clearly ahead.

I think that Wade was slightly better basketball player at his peak than Durant, but Durant is having his 10th season on superstar level now (I don't count 2021, way too many games missed). How can I have Wade ahead of him?

Larry Bird has 10 superstar level seasons as well: 1980-88 + 1990. He also peaked higher than Wade. David Robinson also has more high quality seasons - he was basically a superstar until 2001, which gives him also 10 seasons (1990-96 and 1998-00).

The closest player possibly inside top 25 to Wade in terms of number of superstar seasons is probably Curry with 2013-19 + 2021-22, but even he has more of them.

I like how you broke down 10 years as the prime accomplishment no pun intended.

Bird clearly peaked higher, and was more dominant during his prime of winning 3 MVP's in a row. I also have David Robinson inside my top 25 just behind Moses Malone and KG.

Where do you rank Wade ATM on your all time list? My guess is probably top 30

Yeah, he probably still is inside top 30.

70sFan · Post #17 » by **70sFan** » Thu Mar 31, 2022 5:57 am

VanWest82 wrote:
70sFan wrote:I think that Wade was slightly better basketball player at his peak than Durant,.

Don't see anything controversial with that

dygaction · Post #18 » by **dygaction** » Thu Mar 31, 2022 6:41 am

For comparison, Wade played 1054 regular season games and Kawhi has played 576 games so far. I have Wade just out of top 25 and Kawhi at 35. Difficult for Kawhi to close the longevity gap based on the past trend.

Heat4lyf · Post #19 » by **Heat4lyf** » Thu Mar 31, 2022 7:39 am

mdonnelly1989 wrote:
Heat4lyf wrote:10 year prime of 25/5/6
3 rings scoring title incredible defensively as well.
In a league with Kobe lebron Duncan garnett etc (top 10-25 players) playing at high levels stood at their level or above how can you not have him top 25 ?

I have him top 25 but not top 15 and right on the cusp of top 20. Not sure he's there in 5 years when you have guys like Giannis, Jokic and Embiid coming up on the top 25 fast.

I think that's a fair ranking you have.

I think I'd have him anywhere from 15-20 and I would already project KD and Giannis to finish ahead of him

Embiid is 27 already I don't see him getting to that point and Jokic is incredible but too early to say he's there yet.

feyki · Post #20 » by **feyki** » Thu Mar 31, 2022 9:14 am

He kicked out by the next gen.