Shaquille O’Neal weighs in on the comparison between LeBron James and Dwyane Wade – NBA Update
Who is the real leader on the Miami Heat roster - Dwyane Wade or LeBron James?
This is the question that bugged the minds of many NBA followers throughout the last season. However, even till now, nobody is sure as to what the accurate answer to this query is.
Well, Shaquille O’Neal has something to say on the matter.
The recently retired super star has written a new book looking back at his career, and he compares the two stars according to some excerpts.
“It’s really a tough question. LeBron is a better decision maker. DWade will hit more last-second shots.” O’Neal says in his book.
Shaq’s take on this subject holds weight. The former Los Angeles Lakers centre played with both Wade and James and even won an NBA World Championship with Dwyane in Miami.
“LeBron is more of an ‘opportunity’ CEO. He’s not afraid to take the last shot, but he won’t hesitate to pass it to an open Mike Miller either.”
What he believes is probably what most of us already know, Dwyane Wade has that pure star quality and clutch shooting that sets him apart, but James has a well rounded game and a high basketball IQ. In his book, Shaq appreciated
that both players are in the very top echelons of the NBA, and therefore they need to be seen as leader. But since they are on the same team, only one can take that shot.
A more fair comparison, according to the Diesel, would be with Kobe Bryant, who has been the best finisher in the league for a decade or so.
But measuring up to Kobe is no easy task.
As O’Neal explains in his rather colourful language, Kobe has a work ethic that alone separates him from the pack.
“So where do these two guys measure up against Kobe? Kobe is a scientific dawg. He works out every day, practices every day. Most of the other stars are just dawgs, not scientific dawgs.”
While O’Neal was at Los Angeles, he won three NBA World Champions alongside Bryant. However the pair weren’t exactly the best of friends and often clashed, with Bryant criticizing O’Neal for a lack of commitment in training.
O’Neal says that since he was so gifted physically, he never really needed to work as hard as Bryant. He fears that James, who is also a physical specimen, could be holding back in terms of training because of his abundant advantages.
“Me, I’m a freak-of-nature dawg because of my size. LeBron could be a scientific dawg like Kobe, but he’s got a lot going on like I did, so that’s preventing him from being one.”
If James can develop that work ethic and that killer instinct that has become the trademark of Kobe Bryant over the years, he could become simply unstoppable. However, as the NBA Finals showed this season, he doesn’t have it in
his arsenal just as yet and therefore responsibilities in the clutch fell to Dwyane Wade.
Tags: