Dwyane Wade has made some comments recently about the difference between chasing stats and chasing championships. The Miami Heat legend is the rare player who has both. He won three rings in his 16-year career, but he also put together a statistical body of work to be mentioned right after Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant as one of the best 2-guards of all-time.
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Wade’s comments have been twisted to make it seem like he’s coming after his old friend and teammate LeBron James for putting up empty stats, but that just doesn’t make sense.
LeBron certainly has the statistical edge on everyone due to his continued excellence and unmatched longevity. He’s the all-time leading scorer in NBA history, and he’s continued to put up big numbers in his 22nd season that other all-time great players couldn’t hope to match in their 10th.
That doesn’t mean he’s just chasing stats. LeBron won the title with the Lakers in 2020, the third team he’s led to a championship. That wasn’t even that long ago, and he’s now positioned with Luka Doncic to challenge for another ring, which would be his fifth.
“Dwyane Wade be FRYING LeBron James in these podcasts if you paying attention,” one X user wrote, while splicing his comments into a clip of Michael Jordan talking about how all that matters is championships.
Most people in the replies came out against the OP, with one saying, “Lebron was in Finals for a decade those weren’t empty stats.” Others roasted him because they believed Wade was talking not about LeBron, but about James Harden, due to the recent Wade-Harden debate.
The arrival of Luka Doncic gives LeBron James the chance to shut everyone up once and for all
LeBron has been setting individual records in recent years, like breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record and becoming only the second player over 40 to record a triple-double. If he wants to silence his haters, he needs to win another championship.
With Luka Doncic now on the team, he has a real chance to do that. LeBron had nothing to do with Luka being traded to his Lakers, but he stands to benefit from it all the same. Luka carried the Mavs to the Finals last year, and their forces combined could be enough to come out of the West and even win it all.
It’s been clear in recent years that the Anthony Davis version of L.A. couldn’t get past Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, but the team has looked more dangerous with Luka as LeBron’s partner in crime. The two of them plus Austin Reaves have made the Lakers nearly impossible to stop offensively, while the surprising defensive improvement post-AD has been a revelation.
LeBron clearly has more pep in his step on both ends of the floor since joining forces with Luka. He punctuated last night’s win over the second-place Rockets with an emphatic block on Alperen Sengun, while his teammates Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent took advantage of numerous open looks to each knock down six threes.
This version of the Lakers gives LeBron a real chance at getting that elusive fifth ring. Will he be able to do it? We don’t have long to find out.
