If LeBron James didn't cost Wade his 2nd Finals MVP..

AssistRubio · Post #1 » by **AssistRubio** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 10:12 pm

Where would Wade rank on the all time list? Would he sneak into everyone's top 20?

People forget he was absolutely fantastic in that 2011 Finals. LeBron James ended up costing him unfortunately.

Clipsz 4 Life · Post #2 » by **Tim Lehrbach** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 10:13 pm

Wade doesn't make the 2011 Finals without LeBron.

Stan · Post #3 » by **Stan** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 10:13 pm

Yeah bro, people completely forgot about what happened in the 2011 Finals, a truly under the radar series.

AssistRubio · Post #4 » by **AssistRubio** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 10:15 pm

Tim Lehrbach wrote:Wade doesn't make the 2011 Finals without LeBron.

LeBron doesn't make the 2011 Finals unless he teams up with Wade.

The-Stallion70 · Post #5 » by **The-Stallion70** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 10:17 pm

Hi Heat fan

Stan · Post #6 » by **Stan** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 10:17 pm

Stan wrote:Yeah bro, people completely forgot about what happened in the 2011 Finals, a truly under the radar series.

Clipsz 4 Life · Post #7 » by **Tim Lehrbach** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 10:18 pm

AssistRubio wrote:
Tim Lehrbach wrote:Wade doesn't make the 2011 Finals without LeBron.

LeBron doesn't make the 2011 Finals unless he teams up with Wade.

Maybe not, but this is a thread about Wade winning Finals MVP, which doesn't occur without the Heatles being a thing.

The-Stallion70 · Post #8 » by **The-Stallion70** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 10:19 pm

AssistRubio wrote:Where would Wade rank on the all time list? Would he sneak into everyone's top 20?

People forget he was absolutely fantastic in that 2011 Finals. LeBron James ended up costing him unfortunately.

Or

Dirk, Jet, Kidd, Marion and Tyson ended up costing him

DirtyDez · Post #9 » by **DirtyDez** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 10:39 pm

Wade at his peak (not career) is the 2nd greatest SG after MJ so another FMVP wouldn’t change much for me considering he’s two tiers below MJ in terms of legacy and prime. It’s a shame besides one season of in-shape Shaq he was surrounded by crap during his athletic apex.

Post #10 » by **tsherkin** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 10:47 pm

DirtyDez wrote:Wade at his peak (not career) is the 2nd greatest SG after MJ

Is that a given? I don't know that it is.

Statlanta · Post #11 » by **Statlanta** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 10:49 pm

He would still be behind Kobe Bryant because of longevity.

JustBuzzin · Post #12 » by **JustBuzzin** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 10:59 pm

AssistRubio wrote:
Tim Lehrbach wrote:Wade doesn't make the 2011 Finals without LeBron.

LeBron doesn't make the 2011 Finals unless he teams up with Wade.

LeBron was running the East bro. Take a chi pill acting like Wade got rank over The King smh.

Wade had the Heat as a bottom feeder after Shaq left him. Prime Wade was doing nothing in the weak East. LeBron had to come save him and he revived Wade's career. Y'all playing with Bron name and I don't like that.

Come with some facts next time brudda.

Bornstellar · Post #13 » by **Bornstellar** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 11:00 pm

The Heat lost that series because LeBron James didn't play like LeBron James. If they won, it would have been because he did play like LeBron James and he would've been the Finals MVP

Post #14 » by **dockingsched** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 11:02 pm

If the Heat won the title, Lebron wins mvp.

NyKnicks1714 · Post #15 » by **NyKnicks1714** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 11:13 pm

AssistRubio wrote:
Tim Lehrbach wrote:Wade doesn't make the 2011 Finals without LeBron.

LeBron doesn't make the 2011 Finals unless he teams up with Wade.

Did you forget the premise of your own thread?

picko · Post #16 » by **picko** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 11:25 pm

Bornstellar wrote:The Heat lost that series because LeBron James didn't play like LeBron James. If they won, it would have been because he did play like LeBron James and he would've been the Finals MVP

There is a pretty big gap between LeBron's best and how he played in the 2011 Finals. He only has to be a little better in certain games and the Heat win the series (potentially in a sweep). Games 2 and 4 were only decided by a few points, with Dallas making last quarter comebacks in both games. So I don't think you can reasonably say that they needed a great LeBron to win that series.

Post #17 » by **tsherkin** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 11:34 pm

picko wrote:
Bornstellar wrote:The Heat lost that series because LeBron James didn't play like LeBron James. If they won, it would have been because he did play like LeBron James and he would've been the Finals MVP

There is a pretty big gap between LeBron's best and how he played in the 2011 Finals. He only has to be a little better in certain games and the Heat win the series (potentially in a sweep). Games 2 and 4 were only decided by a few points, with Dallas making last quarter comebacks in both games. So I don't think you can reasonably say that they needed a great LeBron to win that series.

The way I read that was more that if Lebron just played at his usual level, it would have been enough. You two seem to be in agreement.

Lebron was basically a 27/8/7 guy in the RS on +5.3% rTS in 2011 during the RS. The round prior against Chicago, he rocked 26/8/6.5 or so on 56.9% TS (+3.5% rTS relative to league playoff average).

Against Dallas, in a 6-game series, He was about an 18/7/7 guy on 54.1% TS. And in the 10-point loss in Game 6, he posted 21/4/6 which, despite shooting 60% from the field, simply wasn't enough. Particularly with Wade shooting so poorly that game.

They definitely needed Lebron to score more in that series.

D.Brasco · Post #18 » by **D.Brasco** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 11:35 pm

AssistRubio wrote:
Tim Lehrbach wrote:Wade doesn't make the 2011 Finals without LeBron.

LeBron doesn't make the 2011 Finals unless he teams up with Wade.

Basketball doesn't exist if James Naismith didn't have access to peach baskets.

jbsays · Post #19 » by **jbsays** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 11:52 pm

tsherkin wrote:
DirtyDez wrote:Wade at his peak (not career) is the 2nd greatest SG after MJ

Is that a given? I don't know that it is.

It's not a given, but it's not out of the question either.

For Wade to move up who would you take out?

Post #20 » by **tsherkin** » Fri Jul 26, 2024 12:00 am

jbsays wrote:
It's not a given, but it's not out of the question either.

For Wade to move up who would you take out?

So what is his peak? It's probably 09, right? The scoring title, All-NBA 1st team, Defensive 2nd team, 3rd in the DPOY vote, 3rd in the MVP vote. 30/5/7.5, +3% rTS.

As far as peaks, you can look at West, you can look at Kobe. You can look at Steph, really, since he was more of a shooting guard as Golden State rose to dominance, and far less of a traditional point guard, though defense becomes at least somewhat of an obstacle.

It's a short list, though, to be sure. He was nutso when he was healthy in his athletic prime.