Dwyane Wade and James Harden are two of the greatest shooting guards in NBA history, but who do you think would win a 1-on-1 contest between them in their primes? Well, Tracy McGrady believes Harden would be the one to come out on top.
"I gotta go with James Harden," McGrady said. "Cuz he a better shooter and his handles is better."
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I don't think there is any argument to be made for Wade in terms of shooting and ball handling. The Miami Heat icon shot just 29.3% from beyond the arc for his career and never shot higher than 33.0% in any season either. Harden, meanwhile, has shot 36.4% from three in his career.
As for ball-handling, Wade was great at it, but Harden would certainly have the edge over him in that aspect. In our rankings of the greatest ball-handlers of all time in the NBA , Wade was in the fifth tier and Harden was in the third one.
While Harden certainly has the advantage in those aspects, there are others where Wade comes out on top. I think he was the far better athlete and defender of the two when they were in the prime and that would certainly help in a 1-on-1 contest.
Wade, who made three All-Defensive teams in his career, wouldn't be able to clamp Harden down, but he would certainly make life a bit difficult. I can't say that would be the case the other way around, as Harden has never really been regarded as a good defender and doesn't have the athleticism to stay with Wade either.
So, there are certainly reasons you can point to why either of these two would win. As for who I think would come out on top, I might just give Wade the edge. I believe it would be very close, but I would trust Wade to get a stop at some point while I can't say the same about Harden.
It's a shame that we didn't get to see these two face off at their best to know, for sure, who'd have the upper hand. I would say Wade's prime was from 2005-06 to 2010-11 when he averaged 27.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.9 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game. His play just started to dip after that, as injuries slowed him down.
Just as Wade started declining, we saw Harden ascend after joining the Houston Rockets in 2012. While he shone from the get-go for the Rockets, I'd say his prime was from 2014-15 to 2019-20, when he averaged 30.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game. Harden put up some incredible numbers in those years and they were better than what Wade averaged, but I'd still give the latter the edge in a 1-on-1 matchup.
Related: Dwyane Wade, James Harden, Allen Iverson Career Comparison (We Have A Winner)
Tracy McGrady Thinks Kobe Bryant Would Beat Michael Jordan 1-On-1
Wade and Harden are regarded by many as the third and fourth-greatest shooting guards ever, with Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant occupying the top two spots. McGrady was interestingly asked this same question about Jordan and Bryant in the past and backed the latter to beat the former in a 1-on-1 contest.
"I'm going with Kob," McGrady said. "I'm going with Kob because I think Kobe was the most skilled basketball player I've ever seen. I think he took what MJ was and enhanced that skill set."
Bryant himself appears to have believed as well that he would beat Jordan 1-on-1. Again, we'll never know for sure who would have won and I think it could have gone either way. Jordan has undoubtedly gone down as the greater player of the two, but I think Bryant had what it took to beat him in a 1-on-1 game.
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