Lately, there has been a lot of debate on who is the best player on the Miami Heat. I’m here to say love them or hate them, Shaquille O’Neal and Dwayne Wade need each other, and the two, together, have made this season such a success for that team and they will push the team through the playoffs towards the NBA championship.Shaq is being thrown into the debate for the MVP of the entire NBA this year, but I think its hard to say he is even the MVP of his team. Dwayne Wade has been just as important to this team, but I am not saying that either one is the better player or the MVP. All season they have been important to each other and together have taken the Miami Heat to an elite level.
We have heard that Dwayne Wade had his “coming out party” last season during the playoffs. Everyone in the country knew that he was going to be a force in the league when the new season. When Shaq was added to the South Beach mix in the off-season, I was sure that Wade was going to be even better, even faster. Shaq allowed Wade to blossom this season, improving virtually every positive category (except three point percentage). Dwayne came in knowing that this was a championship caliber team, and he attacked the entire league as he established his position as a superstar along side Shaq. Dwayne has also improved his position for the future. He has grown in so many ways in the last year. His confidence improves with each win, he has been a team leader without having to carry the entire weight of the world on his back alone, and he is playing for a championship caliber team. All of these things were helped by Shaq.
So, it has been established that Wade’s season was made even more productive because of Shaq’s presence, but Shaq needed Dwayne just as much. Shaq is one of the league’s all-time most dominant players, but with his age and injuries kicking in during the last few seasons, Shaq would have a hard time carrying a team all by himself. Wade has been the perfect young side-kick for Shaq this season and Shaq has had a young star to lean on throughout the year. Again, Wade bumped his numbers way up this year allowing Shaq to get some rest once in a while.
Now that they are in the playoffs, things will really get interesting. Shaq is showing his age with his injuries and he is slower than usual and may miss some game-time as he rests, but he will count on Wade to use that confidence and leadership he learned during the 82 game season so that the team can move on to the championship. After the first round, the team looks to be on target. For most of the four game sweep of New Jersey, the Heat looked like a three-headed monster made up of Shaq, Wade, and the defensive pressure of the rest of the team. The old motto is “Defense wins championships,” but defense and two evenly-important superstars will get the job done just as well.