Yardbarker
x
Dwyane Wade deserved 2009 MVP over LeBron James, claims Udonis Haslem
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

NBA veteran Dwyane Wade was playing the best season of his career in 2009. His dominant performance took him to the NBA’s Most Valuable Player ladder that year. However, the star came up short to reach the pinnacle of the list and eventually lost the title to LeBron James .

Former NBA player Udonis Haslem recently opened up about his disagreement with the award winner. The Miami Heat legend made a statement on the ‘The OGs Show.’ According to Haslem, Wade at the time was the best player in the world and deserved to win the MVP over James.

He [Wade] probably should've won MVP that year. We’re talking about a guy who was, also at one point, considered the best in the world. Udonis Haslem said

In 2009, Dwyane Wade led the league in total points and was easily one of the top three best players in the NBA. The player was at the peak of his scoring as he was averaging 30.2 points per game, the most in the league that year. Despite being the top-scoring player, Wade was unable to win the award.

However, despite giving the Heat their first championship, Wade never got the opportunity to win the regular season MVP award in his career. The star himself believed that he deserved the award in 2009. Ahead in the future, Wade and James became teammates and also won two championships together for Miami.

Udonis Haslem claims Chris Bosh was more important than LeBron James for the Miami Heat

In 2010-11 the Miami Heat put together a star trio which consisted of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. At the time, naturally, James was considered the main man of the group. However, Haslem disagreed with that idea as well.

About a month ago, in the same podcast, the 43-year-old made a bold statement. The former athlete claimed that the best player on the team was not the most important player at the time. However, Bosh was the most significant according to him, as he was irreplaceable.

He [Bosh] was our most important player because if Bron went down, you could bring in D-Wade, and it’s not the same player, but you’re gonna get similar results. Udonis Haslem said

Despite Haslem’s controversial remark, it is undeniable that Bosh was an essential part of the Heat’s roster. The team would have struggled to reach four consecutive NBA finals and two championships without Bosh’s contribution to the trio.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

+

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.