y Nick Friedell | ESPNChicago.com
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CHICAGO -- Dwyane Wade isn't ready to put Miami Heat teammate LeBron James i
n Michael Jordan's category.
Not yet anyway.
"I don't know if (James) has the ability to surpass (Jordan) or not," Wade t
old ESPNChicago.com on Thursday during a promotional event for his Wade's Wo
rld Foundation. "That's yet to be seen. My version as LeBron being on par wi
th Michael is this: They're both on the golf course. Michael's on the 18th h
ole. LeBron is somewhere on like the fourth hole. He's got a long way to go,
but he's on par to get to the 18th hole.
“
Wade He's one that we haven't seen, with the makeup of a 6-8 guy who run
s as fast as any point guard, jumps as high as any center, and has the abili
ty that he has to do so many things. But Michael Jordan is the greatest play
er of all time, that's who everyone shoots for. So it's going to be hard to
surpass that.
” -- Dwyane Wade on LeBron James
"I think everyone knows that (James) is a phenomenal, phenomenal player. He'
s one that we haven't seen, with the makeup of a 6-8 guy who runs as fast as
any point guard, jumps as high as any center, and has the ability that he h
as to do so many things. But Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all ti
me, that's who everyone shoots for. So it's going to be hard to surpass that
."
Wade, a Chicago native who told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel last week tha
t James was "on that level" as it pertained to Jordan, played an instrumenta
l role in James signing with the Heat two summers ago.
James capped a remarkable year earlier this month with an Olympic gold medal
for Team USA. Before that, he won his third league MVP, his first NBA champ
ionship and an NBA Finals MVP.
"I'm not (surprised)," Wade said of James. "Because there's a certain period
in your life and a time (in) an age group where you're going to continue to
get better. You see players like Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, they're g
ood now but they're going to be better. And it's not saying how many more po
ints you can score, it's just being better as an overall player. And LeBron
is at that point; he's 27 years old.
"He's now playing with that confidence, that swagger that you need, and he's
right in the smack of his prime. We've all seen it from all the best player
s in this game, all the future Hall of Famers, that age -- 27, 28, 29 -- tha
t's like the best years, and then after that if you stay healthy, then you h
ave even more great years like a Michael Jordan, like a Kobe (Bryant) has ha
d, when they reach their 30s."
Jordan won his first of six NBA titles at age 27 in his seventh season. Jame
s was also 27 when he won his first title, and if he ever wrestles the unoff
icial title of the NBA's greatest, he likely will need to match Jordan's tit
le haul.
As the Jordan-James debate rages on, Wade believes the Heat can be a dynasty
as long as they stay healthy.
"If you're a team that's lucky enough not to have major injuries along your
run, then it can possibly be," Wade said. "But you never know that until it'
s over. As a Chicago Bulls fan, when they won their first championship, I di
dn't say, 'We're going to win five more.' You just hope that your team conti
nues to compete and they get in that situation that they're good enough to p
ull it out and are able to win.
"So right now, we won one and that's a lot more than a lot of teams have don
e in the past, but it's a lot less than (other teams) as well. We just want
to continue to get better and hopefully we're there again in the Finals to t
ry and win another one."
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