Recently Dime Magazine hopped on the kiddie bandwagon and declared Dwayne Wade the best player in the NBA. Lebron James second and Kobe Bryant  third.

So it's come down to this. Dime Magazine (which promotes the zero defense street ball game heavily) has joined the David Stern propaganda campaign to make Lebron James the "Next  Michael Jordan".  This is not suprising since Dime's primary purpose in life seems to be promoting kicks for shoe companies. And who better to do it with than street ball which every ghetto kid that can slam or shoot 3's but play no other aspect of the game, can relate to. TRANSLATION: It's about Marketing. M-O-N-E-Y.  And they are correct when taken in this context and this context alone. But they are wrong as wrong gets in claiming this if you have any integrity and believe in the integrity of the game. Here's  why.The choice to put Wade and James over Bryant is an easy one. Kobe is not particularly charsmatic. He had the problems in Eagle.He was an immature kid early on in the NBA. He played  in the Shadow of Shaq's prime.

Not  that all these things matter. Had none of them existed, had Bryant been the most charsmatic player in the history of the game, he would still be the most hated player in the NBA for the simple reason he plays for the Lakers. Shaq deserved at least 3 more MVP's while a Laker but didn't get them for the same reason. He was a Laker.  Why? The Lakers and their players are the most hated team in the NBA because  no NBA team in the modern game has as many titles as the Lakers. No team is as consistently in contention (i.e. in the playoffs) as the Lakers,  Kobe suffers from a lack of shoe market marketability simply for this reason. So Lebron is the "next MJ".

I'm a Dwayne Wade Fan. He's got the same "killer instinct" that MJ and Kobe had/have. In virtually every game I've seen him play he's going to get in the lane with the giants and spinning, twisting, he'll make numerous circus shots just like MJ and Kobe. The kid is fearless. He's a winner.  And well deserved the finals MVP.

What he doesn't have is much of an outside shot although it has improved. And he doesn't play outstanding defense although that has also improved.

Lebron James offensive game is limited to seam split  clear out swoops to the rim and once in a while he has his outside shot going. He plays ZERO defense and is easily identifiable as the primary reason why "Team Lebron" finished 3rd at the Worlds just as "Team Marbury" did in the Olympics due to LBJ's complete inability to guard Non NBA players who blew past him like Top 50 NBA players storming past Stevie Wonder, He has virtually no killer instinct and took over no games at the worlds. In my view at  this point in his young life although he has the potential to be the best to ever play the game,  he's nowhere near the second best player in the NBA today. This claim by Dime is absurd.

Kobe Bryant is 27,  in his prime, works harder at his game than any player in the game and is an 8 time all pro defensive player along with his other numerous offensive records and accolades.

Simply put, all shoe sales marketability aside, Kobe Bryant is the best all around player in the NBA and Dime Magazine?  You should be ashamed of yourselves.

THE TEN BEST

1.) Kobe Bryant

2.) Dwayne Wade

3.) Tim Duncan : Nobody does fundamentals better. If healthy finally, nobody leads by example better. And the Bank is always open.

4.) Dirk Nowitski :  The Euro who deserves a better rep. He's stepped up with largely no center his entire career and became a leader.

5.) Kevin Garnett :  Only God knows what KG could have accomplished with some healthy for an entire season solid support players around him. Now 30, KG will live to regret having spent his career under the bumbling of Kevin McHale. But the guy will get you 20 and 10. It don't get any better than that on a sorry team with sorrier management.

6.) Steve Nash :  Born to assist. He could easily avg as much scoring as anyone else but he's the last of the true point guards of his generation. I have no doubts Nash could get 10 assists in an NBA season at age 50. Simply the best PG playing today and even he plays superior position defense than Lebron James does to his position.

7.) Elton Brand : Never takes a night off. Another 20 and 10, put it in the bank. (unless he gets you 30 and 15 which he can and will quite often do.) This undersized PF delivers night in and night out no matter who takes the most shots, no matter the opponent, no mattter what. This is a throwback to the old days. A BALLER

8.) Allen Iverson:  You want points? Here's points. You want assists? He'll assist. Had his best year at age 30 and the toughest little guy in the game. Maybe the toughest little guy of all time in the NBA. The claim is Lebron plays defense because he gets some steals. So does Iverson. and here again AI will play better position defense than Lebron.

9:  Shawn Marion:  The Matrix. A true windwalker. He'll board, he'll score, he'll run, he'll slash, he'll hit the 3, he's got everything true greatness demands. I can't wait to see what he can do in a playoffs when he's got his starting unit intact around him. Marion is another throwback to the 80's,  Another BALLER.

10: Lebron James:  Endless potential, the most overhyped player in the history of the NBA.  Nothing more to say. He only makes the top 10 because of scoring and potential. he's Dominique Wilkens with more assists until he learns to play a modicum of defense.

THREE OTHERS I WOULD TAKE:

In the event that Bron Bron continues to refuse to even acknowledge the responsibility of holding a journeyman he's defending to his average (instead of allowing him a career offensive night) the three  other tplayers I would take over Lebron at  this particular point in time are:

Amare Stoudemaire:  If the knees are Ok, this guy moves into the top five. The beast of the West.

Dwight Howard: This may well be the year that Howard takes over as the best big man in the game. The beast of the East.

 T-Mac: He joins Amare on the wait and see if he is really healthy list. But he can do everything Lebron can do plus I think that little defensive gem he put on Dirk during the playoffs pretty much proves that Tmac plays lights out defense compared to LBJ.