Is LeBron James becoming Dwyane Wade’s Scottie Pippen? The clear winner of the Miami Heat’s 88-86 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 3 on Sunday night was Wade, who led Miami with 29 points, 11 rebounds and a sheer will to win.
“I’ve been here before so just trying to lead,” Wade told reporters after the game. “My guys did a great job of following.”
LeBron James, follower.
From the time James announced his decision to take his talents to South Beach last summer, with Chris Bosh joining him to play with Wade, there has been debate over whose team it would be.
On Sunday night, that debate ended. It is Dwyane Wade’s.
It was Wade’s team when the Heat defeated the Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals — even with Shaquille O’Neal as a teammate — and it is Wade’s team now, even with the most celebrated player in the NBA as a teammate.
In nine career NBA Finals games, Wade has averaged nearly 33 points.
That is a mark of greatness, one that could alter any argument about the NBA’s best players.
Much of that discussion revolves around James and Kobe Bryant. It usually drops off after those two, with the next level including Wade, Carmelo Anthony and several others who occasionally surface.
Perhaps it’s time to rethink that pecking order. If Wade continues this dominating NBA Finals performance — and James continues to take a secondary role — does it move Wade ahead of James?
If you believe NBA titles are a tipping point in a close comparison, then yes. And that means, at least for this year, James becomes Pippen, playing sidekick to Wade as Pippen did to Michael Jordan on those championship Bulls squads.
James has played great defense. He distributed the ball Sunday night, finishing with nine assists, though he had just two points and two turnovers in the fourth quarter. If the Heat win the finals, he should get credit for worrying about victories rather than his own numbers.
“I’m a two-way player,” James said, responding to a postgame news conference question about whether he disappeared in the fourth quarter. “Since D-Wade had it going … we allow him to handle the ball, bring it on offensively.”
Fair or not, that will amount to a medal for good penmanship in comparison to the accolades Wade will receive for his game-changing offensive performances.
It is a strange dynamic, one James and his superstardom helped create — the notion that a player with such great talents would somehow diminish his place on the sports landscape by playing a supporting role.
James may finally get his ring. But it will be remembered as Wade’s championship, and that will get old.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
