Greg Oden less marketable?

I'm a big fan of Greg Oden's. I predicted he'd win Rookie of The Year before being dealt a season ending knee injury. I think he has a great shot at breaking Hakeem Olajuwon's career record for blocked shots (3830) due to his ability to block shots equally well with either hand. With he and Brandon Roy leading the way, there isn't a team in the NBA with a brighter future than the Trailblazers.

Normally, athletes wait until their career has ended before speaking out on issues as controversial as politics. But Greg chose to endorse Illinois Senator Barack Obama for President. I applaud him for doing so. I wish more athletes were less concerned with creating a manufactured image.

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are the poster boys of the NBA. Would they be less marketable if they followed Oden's path?

Dwyane Wade & Pat Riley throwing games?

The Miami Heat are an abysmal 10-44 this season, 7-21 in games where neither team was ahead by more than 5 points in the 4th quarter or overtime.

Dwyane Wade is second in the league in turnovers with 4.4 a game. Wade was touted as a "clutch winner" after leading the Heat back from a 2-0 deficit in the NBA Finals. He would eventually be named Finals MVP. After that championship run many experts felt Wade was better than Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Some dubbed him the 'Air Apparent'. The Miami Heat are the worst team in basketball this season and Wade is shooting 32% in the clutch.

So what gives? I think there's a relatively simple explanation for Miami's poor record; Dwyane Wade and Pat Riley are overrated. Wade played great in the 2006 NBA playoffs but consider the competition. Chicago was inexperienced, New Jersey was content watching Vince Carter fire up 3-pointers, Detroit imploded, and the past two seasons have shown us what the 2006 runner-up Dallas Mavericks were made of.

I never bought into the Dwyane Wade hoopla. A serviceable Shaq drew enough attention to create open lanes. Without Shaq, Wade is being exposed for what he is - a one dimensional player who depends on his athleticism to get to the basket and draw fouls. The lanes that were open during Shaq's days in Miami are closed and Wade doesn't possess a reliable jumpshot or a high enough basketball IQ to hurt the defense. If the Heat are to return to respectability, Wade will need to become a complete player.

Which accomplishment is more impressive?

LeBron James become the youngest player in NBA history to reach 10,000 points in a 92-87 loss to the Boston Celtics last night. James reached the 10,000-point milestone at 23 years and 59 days, more than a year younger than Kobe Bryant was when he hit the milestone in 2003 (24 years, 193 days). It took James 368 games to do it - the ninth-fastest in league history.

Congratulations to LeBron, but does this record mean anything? No. At the tender age of 23, he probably is better than both Kobe Bryant AND Michael Jordan were at that point in their respective careers.

Speaking of Kobe Bryant. This is LeBron's 5th season in the NBA. He is averaging 30.2 ppg, 8.1 rpg, and 7.4 assists. Kobe averaged 28.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, and 5 apg in his 5th NBA season. It was also in his 5th NBA season that Kobe won the second of three consecutive NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. Did Kobe benefit from playing with Shaq? Yes. Would he have averaged more or less had he not been on those championship Laker teams? We'll never know.

There is one individual honor that Kobe received in his 4th NBA season that I regard as more impressive than LeBron being the youngest to reach 10,000 points. Kobe Bryant was an All-NBA first team defender in 1999-2000...at the age of 21.

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