Dwyane Wade isn’t ducking the comparisons to James Harden. In reality, he’s embracing them, with brutal honesty.
The three-time NBA champion addressed the long-standing debate over who ranks because the third-greatest capturing guard of all time behind Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
For a lot of followers and analysts, the argument typically comes right down to Wade vs. Harden, and Wade didn’t draw back from providing perspective on how totally different their priorities had been.
“It’s going to be quite a lot of arguments about ‘Oh, he’s higher as a result of he scored extra factors. Oh, he’s higher as a result of I like his recreation higher. He’s higher as a result of he gained extra rings.’ This dialog by no means goes wherever,” Wade mentioned on the Time Out podcast. “Successful a hoop, it’s an entire totally different recreation than being an excellent participant and having stats. I may have extra stats if I didn’t care about profitable a hoop.”
Dwyane Wade on his profession after current debate about him vs. James Harden:
“I can have extra stats if I didn’t care about profitable a hoop.” 💍🏆
Ideas? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/ZSh7IHicKx
— Courtside Buzz (@CourtsideBuzzX) July 26, 2025
Wade’s level: longevity and numbers don’t all the time inform the complete story.
In his prime, Wade’s manufacturing was elite. His 2008-09 season noticed him common 30.2 factors, 7.5 assists, and 5 rebounds per recreation. However not like Harden, who carried an enormous offensive load for a number of years in Houston, Wade performed most of his profession surrounded by stars and sacrificed quantity for profitable.
Harden, now 35 years outdated, continues to be chasing that elusive first championship.
He’s cracked the highest 10 on the NBA’s all-time scoring checklist and averaged 29-plus factors for 5 straight seasons from 2015 to 2020. However playoff collapses have continued to outline his legacy, together with this yr’s Sport 7 no-show in opposition to Denver.
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