Asking this question just a year ago would’ve incited laughter. James Harden was still only a sixth man in OKC, a good player, but someone who relied on the offensive openings provided by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. But once traded to Houston, Harden exploded. Now he’s a legitimate All-Star, one of the top five scorers in the NBA (25.8 points a game), and is already drawing favorable superstar calls from refs. Last night in the Rockets’ loss in Miami, it wasn’t LeBron James who was the best player on the floor, nor was it Dwyane Wade. It was James Harden, a direct contrast to last June’s NBA Finals when Harden shot 38 percent from the floor and scored only 12.4 points a game in a 4-1 series loss. But the Beard hasn’t proven himself in the playoffs yet (at least as a franchise player). Wade has, and despite taking a back seat while yielding the team over to LeBron, Wade is still putting up nearly 21 points a night on 51 percent shooting, all while sporting a better PER than Harden (23.51 to 23.07). The numbers mean more to Harden at this point: he’s trying to secure his place in the NBA’s hierarchy while Wade is a 31-year-old veteran who’s likely saving his legs for the playoffs. That complicates the question. Still, we must ask it: who’s better? Dwyane Wade or James Harden? We argue. You decide. *** *** *** Dwyane Wade

The shooting guard position has a lot of depth in today’s NBA. You have a young core of guys who are on the come up. You have those who’ve been around for a while. Then you have seasoned scorers like Dwyane Wade and James Harden. Each guy has done well for his team this year. They’re both scoring over 20 points per game, and each getting over three assists and four rebounds per game. Still, when comparing these two players it doesn’t get close. It appears Harden is better on the surface. Harden’s 25.8 points per game beats Wade’s 20.9 by a mile. Harden also has a true shooting percentage of just a shade below 60. That’s a great figure for a guy who dominates the ball. Yet that’s not all there is to it. Dwyane Wade only takes 15.5 shots per game to Harden’s 17.2. That’s only two shots, but two shots make a huge difference when scoring five more points. Wade’s regular field goal percentage is also over 50. Harden’s is a not-so-great 44 percent. Harden shoots 10 free throws per game. That’s what gives him an edge in the scoring and true shooting column. Dwyane Wade doesn’t draw nearly as many fouls as Harden at only 6.3 per game. Don’t forget that Wade is playing on a team with LeBron James. That eliminates some of the looks he’ll get to draw fouls. He doesn’t have to create looks for himself or others anymore. At this point, he can just give the ball to James while he picks and chooses when he wants to shoot. Wade is more efficient, sporting a slight edge (23.51 to 23.07) in PER, and does nearly as much in fewer minutes; Harden plays 38.2 minutes per game while Wade only plays 34.1.

He’s also a far better defender than Harden on a nightly basis. Harden takes a lot of plays off on that end. I understand why he does it — he gives the Rockets so much offense. But even when Wade is giving his all on offense, you can still see him hounding guards on the defensive end. Wade is still the best combination at this position of scoring and defending. For the past two years, Wade has lead the guard position in blocks. Those weren’t just chase-down blocks, either. He’s been blocking guys at every position straight up, and has been doing it throughout his career. You can make the case he’s the best shotblocking little man of all time. Harden can vouch for me there. With the game on the line last night in South Beach, Wade blocked his three-pointer to secure a win. Harden had himself a game, but Wade had a better one as the Heat came out with the win because of their two guard, 114-108. Sure, Wade’s defense isn’t as great as it was two or three years ago. That doesn’t mean that it still isn’t better than Harden’s. He’s a better all-around player at this point and it shows.

-MICHAEL SYKES II Hit page 2 to hear who would rather have James Harden… James Harden

Twenty-three-year-old James Harden approaches this year’s All-Star break having gone from sixth man to superstar overnight. Along with being featured in noteworthy Foot Locker ads, the bearded baller’s play is proving why he is worthy of the max. Putting up almost 26 points, 5.6 assists and just under two steals per game, Harden makes a good case for why he is one of the league’s most talented players. While it’s impossible not to respect the body of work D-Wade established to this point in his career, Harden is simply better right now. He may, in fact, surpass Wade over his entire career. At the age of 23, Wade (during the ’04-05 season) received a little help from a big friend, Shaquille O’Neal. While Shaq was 32 years old and not exactly in his prime, he was still the most dominant center in the league. The Big Diesel put up 23 and 10 during his first season on South Beach. While one would argue that Wade was the go-to guy in the 305 during the ’04-05 season, the second-year player out of Marquette still had the luxury of leaning on O’Neal as his bodyguard, sidekick and veteran mentor. Wade’s ridiculous stat line of 24.1 points, 6.8 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game at the age of 23 was phenomenal, but Shaq’s handprints were all over Miami’s success. The crutch that Shaquille provided alleviated the game-to-game pressure for Wade, allowing him to shine. Fast forward eight seasons and you will find that James Harden is averaging more points and steals than Wade was at the age of 23, while also being first in league free throw attempts and makes, a stat that should not go unrecognized. When it comes to a supporting cast, Harden doesn’t have a sidekick that attracts the same level of attention that followed Shaq during any point in his career. Yes, Harden has a bruiser to help down low in Omer Asik, who is averaging 10 points and an impressive 11 rebounds in his third season. But to compare the Turkish center to The Big Diesel would be blasphemous. Bottom line, Harden is doing it on his own. Since Scotty Brooks let him off his leash and OKC shipped him to H-Town, Harden has had 28 games with over 25 points this season (he had eight in his prior three seasons combined). During the 2012-2013 season, it’s not necessarily fair to compare the two All-Star’s numbers from this season as a declining Wade now has the best player on the planet to fill the role of Batman while Harden looks to be the face of the Houston Rockets until at least 2018. However, this season Harden is averaging five more points, along with more steals and assists while shooting better from the charity stripe and three.