The legs on the Dwyane Wade vs. James Harden debate clearly have no end to them, as the weeks-long conversation centered on who's better, or if they're equal. Many of these debates within the NBA, especially, are simply silly. Yet they drive conversations and debates, and the outside masses come in droves for them.
All the while, Harden is still in the NBA, trying to finally break through to win his first NBA Championship. As for the Miami Heat legend, Wade has been out of the game for several years now but has remained part of the league through broadcasting.
The conversation about who is the better basketball player started a few weeks ago, and now voices from outside the NBA are chiming in, with one of the loudest voices in sports media just entering the room. Former NFL legend and Super Bowl winner Shannon Sharpe had something to say recently, and it's clear whose side he's on.
Shannon Sharpe claims James Harden doesn't come close to Dwyane Wade's level
First off, and to be clear, like Wade is now, Harden will one day be in the Hall of Fame; that is not a debate. Put aside his many playoff shortcomings, the poor manner in which he's departed franchises, and even the heavy criticism he's receiving now during the Cavaliers' current playoff stretch, Harden is going in as a first ballot Hall of Fame player.
Harden's resume as one of the NBA's best offensive players and scorers in its history sums up his iconic career, but he has never, and might never, reach the level at which Wade did, and that's what Sharpe is arguing for in defense of Wade. In Sharpe's eyes, it's everything Wade did before his final years in the league that put him far above Harden.
“I think people just looking at D Wades last couple years when his knees were bad," Sharpe said on his Night Cap podcast. "People don’t realize D Wade from when he came into the league until 2012, the first 10 years. Sometimes that’s what happens. When you get old, people don’t realize how great you were when you were younger, and healthier. They look at him in Chicago, Cleveland. No, I don’t look at that.”
It's true: before Wade was struggling to keep up in his final years with the Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls, and then ending his career back with the Heat, Wade was vying with Kobe Bryant to be named the league's best shooting guard ever. Today, most would have Bryant at the top, and Wade at second, and that's a totally fair ranking.
Still, even considering that ranking, Harden's argument as the better scorer over Wade is also fair, but it's not just about putting the ball in the basket; Harden has never been a winner. Wade, on the other hand, has and was. He won his first championship before LeBron James and Chris Bosh arrived in Miami, which is a testament to how great Wade was in the early days.
That's all Sharpe is trying to get everyone to understand. Wade cemented his greatness early on and won multiple times. Harden is still chasing, and he may never get what he's chasing. That's why Wade will always be the better player.
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