NewsFLASH: Time to Take Up The Cause

By: Kufere Laing

Out of curiosity, how on earth is Dwyane Wade not the front runner to be the NBA MVP (I'm going to call the Wade 4 MVP campaign The Cause in this and future articles) this season? He leads the league in scoring, doesn't have a teammate averaging over 14 points per game, averages 7 assists a game, and plays for a team that won a total of 15 games the previous season. This year, the Heat are 1/2 a game out of the 4th spot in the East (the 4 seed would allow them to have home court advantage in the 1st round of the playoffs) with the only key addition to the roster being Jermaine O'neal, who is only averaging 13 points per game. The biggest detractors of The Cause say Wade's team doesn't have enough wins to warrant a MVP this season. How ridiculous is this? If Wade is replaced with any other 2-guard in the NBA right now (with the exception of 24) the Heat are in Lottery Land again.

Some say the MVP should go to the best player on the best team, which makes even less sense. If your the best player on the best team, you obviously have capable teammates which make you dispensable. Look at the Celtics, arguably the best team in the East right now, they lost their best player Kevin Garnett and haven't missed a beat. If the Lakers were to lose 24 for a couple of weeks, there is little doubt that they would remain as the top seed in the Western Conference thanks to their incredible depth. Now, if the Heat lose Wade for two weeks, there's no way they go .500, in fact, I doubt they would win any games in the time span.

Over the last five games, Wade has kicked his game into overdrive by averaging 37 points 10 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, and has played around 40 minutes a night. Since the All-Star break, Wade is averaging 35 points per game and more importantly, the Heat a team with limited talent and even less height (the most underrated aspect of playing in the NBA) are somehow winning games. Making this string of games even more impressive is the fact that the Heat can not win if Wade has an off night because who would step up? In fact, the Heat are 4-10 in games when Wade has shot under 40% from the field. The Lakers? Well they're 13-3 when 24 shoots under 40% and the LeBron's are 2-7. However, the LeBron's 2-7 record is a little misleading due to the fact that that four of those 7 losses are to Orlando, LA, and Boston; three of the best teams in the league.

Without Wade, St. Bede's JV CYO team looks like they could beat the Heat (assuming Andrew Sherman gets his usual 40-10) with Wade, Miami looks like they could become...THE TEAM OF DESTINY! With that, I think its time to take up The Cause.