Lakers Kobe Bryant and Heat’s Dwyane Wade

Lakers favorite Kobe Bryant and Heat’s star player Dwyane Wade both get a lot of points, and attention, but don’t start comparing them yet. The Lakers play the Heat in Miami tonight and that should cool down comparisons, at least if Wade, who told the L.A. Times, “No. Not even close. Not now,” can help it. A lot has changed for both players since their Shaquille O’Neal years, which is shown by examining their respective team’s rosters and the NBA standings. Wade and O’Neal teamed up for a championship in 2006 after the Lakers sent O’Neal to the Heat in 2004. O’Neal is now with the Suns, while Wade is playing for a Heat team that is .500 and Bryant’s Lakers are 21-3 after losing the championship to the Celtics last spring. Reigning MVP Bryant has just four 30-point-plus games this season and the Lakers continue to win, while the Heat is 6-3 when Wade scored at least 30-points and 6-9 when he doesn’t.

Bryant also shed light on their differences to the Times Thursday night: “D. Wade is different than I am, a different personality. I am more a pure scorer, so my way to help the team was to score the ball. I had to score [35] points a game just to beat below -.500 teams. I think D. Wade is struggling with [rebuilding] because he wants to pass the ball, set up his teammates. He’s used to being on teams where he can do that.” For his part, Wade admitted that it’s “tough” this season, but said, “I would rather have a rebuilding year now when I am 26, than have a rebuilding year when I am 30-something, I can tell you that.” For the full article go to the Los Angeles Times website.

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Posted in General on December 19, 2008

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