MIAMI – This one was way too easy for Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, the current Stockton and Malone of the NBA.
With well-known headhunters such as Lennox Lewis and Ndamukong Suh sitting in the AmericanAirlines Arena crowd (suspended center Dexter Pittman would have felt right at home), Wade and James put a 93-79 two-man hurt on the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference finals series.
And that raises an interesting question…
Could this Wade-James duo – in only its second season together and not having won anything – potentially rank among the all-time great twosomes in NBA history?
If James and Wade lead this limping Miami Heat team to the title, over San Antonio or Oklahoma City and without 
the services of injured forward Chris Bosh, wouldn’t you have to consider them among the NBA’s all-time best duos?
And if the Wade-James duo is that darn good, what happens when/if Bosh returns?
Actually, that adjustment might not be a huge one.
“We’re all role players,” Heat forward Shane Battier said with a laugh. “It’s just Dwyane and LeBron’s roles are to be mega-superstars.”
Let’s face it, James and Wade are unstoppable right now, and they’re getting better.
“We’re not playing as much hero ball as we played last year,” Wade said.
In other words, they’re sharing and caring. And they’re learning and teaching.
In the last four games – all Heat victories – Wade and James have combined for 62.8 points per game, along with 18.1 rebounds and 10.5 assists.
The way they’ve been playing in the last four games, they might be the most dominant duo the NBA has seen in a decade or so.
Now, before we get too carried away we’ve got to face facts. A 2-year-old could have devised Miami’s Game 1 scheme against Boston.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra fed the aging Celtics a steady diet of James (32 points, 13 rebounds) and Wade (22 points, seven assists). It was too much for Boston to digest, especially in the second half, when the Wade-James duo combined for 31 points, just two shy of the 33 the entire geriatric Celtics team managed after intermission.
Indiana, not exactly a measuring stick-type opponent, was the first team to feel the wrath of this dynamic duo. The Pacers died an ugly death in Games 4, 5 and 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. In Game 4, Wade and James combined for 70 points. In Game 5, it was 58. In the clinching Game 6, it was 67.
And there were game-changing plays in the mix, too. It wasn’t just points. There were steals. Assists. Rebounds. Blocks. They did it all.
They dominated Indiana, and seemed to serve notice they could do this against anyone. Boston understands. James and Wade combined for 54 points in Game 1.
So that leads us back to that first question about whether the James-Wade combo has the potential to rank among the all-time greats.
You have to acknowledge Wade-James isn’t in the same category as Jordan-Pippen. You might be tempted to make the comparison because they play the same positions, but stop yourself. That’s not even in the discussion. They have six rings. The ring is the whole thing. The ring is everything.
Take away the rings and, yeah, James-Wade could maybe emulate Jordan-Pippen. Maybe. But you gotta keep the rings in the conversation. That’s why MJ-Scottie is MJ-Scottie. They won titles.
Using the same thinking, we know Wade-James isn’t Kobe-Shaq. Again, it’s about the rings.
But what about Stockton-Malone? Could Wade-James be mentioned in the same breath as Stockton-Malone? Rings aren’t a problem here.
Would you buy it if someone suggested the Wade-James duo is good as perhaps the best pick-and-roll combination in NBA history?
Or let’s look at it another startling way: Is the James-Wade duo as good as two guys who both rank among the top 10 in NBA history at their respective positions? Malone is easily in the argument for best power forward of all time, not just the top 10, and Stockton would probably have to be considered a top 10 point guard of all time.
You see how well the Wade-James combo has played these last four games. They’ve been dominant. James, the three-time MVP, was already dominant in the playoffs. Wade reverted to dominance in the second half of Game 4 in Indiana.
Miami never trailed in Monday’s Game 1 victory against Boston.
Boston, dead-legged after winning Saturday’s Game 7 against Philadelphia, showed some early fight in Game 1 at Miami. The Celtics rose to post a 35-point second quarter following a horrific 11-point opening period.
But that was all the life the Celtics would show on this night, when they were playing their 14th playoff game in this postseason. Think about that for a second. The oldest surviving playoff team has played the most playoff games.
Viewed in that light, maybe the Wade-James combo hasn’t really done much. They weren’t this dynamic during the regular season. They didn’t do this during the New York Knicks series. And it took a while for these combined skills to show during the Indiana series.
Stockton and Malone balled every game, all the time.
Then again, if the James-Wade duo gets a ring, you’d probably have to say they’re automatically a better twosome than Stockton and Malone. And that would mean Wade and James are among the all-time bests.
Chris Perkins is a regular contributor to SheridanHoops.com, covering the NBA and the Miami Heat. His columns regularly appear every Tuesday. Follow him on Twitter.
These two duos shouldn’t be compared. LeBron and Wade are the same player in different positions and have no need of the other to be effective. Stockton and Malone needed each other to be considered two of the top players ever at their positions.
Jordan-Pippen is probably the only other apt comparison for Lebron-Wade. But I don’t think many Heat fans want to go there. Pippen clearly knew his role with the much superior player and excelled in the sidekick. Neither Lebron nor Wade will ever have the “sidekick” role down. And, like I wrote in the last paragraph, Stockton and Malone had a symbiotic relationship. One needed the other.
Shaq-Kobe is also a semi-apt comparison as one or the other had to take the backseat, which neither wanted to do. Even so, Kobe took enough of a backseat to allow Shaq to lead the Lakers to three titles. I don’t know if this happens for Wade and Lebron.
In fact, the duo out West, Westbrook and Durant, should put fear in Wade and James. It’s only a matter of time before each becomes the superior player to their Heat counterparts. Even now, is Wade THAT much better than Westbrook? No. And is Lebron THAT much better than Durant? No. And the Westbrook-Durant duo is surrounded by superior role players with a clear hierarchy.
I don’t think you can say “Stockton would probably have to be considered a top 10 point guard of all time.” He is the all-time assist leader by FAR, and the all-time steals leader while being a slow white guy. Which to me means that he knows the game of basketball better than just about anyone.
I like the idea/question you pose, but I think it can be answered in two different ways and still be right. The Lebron-Wade team is more talented than the Malone-Stockton team. I’d easily take Lebron over Malone, and while Wade and Stockton play different postions and Stockton is arguably in the top 5 PGs off all time I’d still take Wade. Wade during his career has had a better all-around game, but Stockton isn’t that far behind.
But as far as evaluation the combination, of how they interact together and play off of one another, I think they Malone-Stockton tandem does this better. The 2 of them ran pick and roll together thousands of times, always playing off of one another. They needed each other to fulfill their roles in the offense to be successful. You could possibly argue no NBA twosome’s game more heavily relied on the other for their own success. Whereas Lebron does not really play off of Wade at all. Lebron has actually proven to be better without Wade there.