Throughout his 12-year NBA career, former NBA Champion Jeff Teague has encountered some of the most formidable guards in their prime, including the likes of Dwyane Wade and James Harden.

Discussing who is better among the latter two, Teague edged in favor of Harden as he believes that D-Wade has never been able to achieve success with Miami Heat all alone. Moreover, the 35-year-old pointed out how ‘Flash’ has only won championships only when he had Shaq and LeBron James alongside him.

“I got him over D-Wade. If you think about it… when he’s by himself, D-Wade had Shaq then he had ‘Bron. He’s never really been by himself. When he was by himself, Miami was trash,” exclaimed Teague on his podcast. “He averaged 35 for like 5 straight years with like 10 assists. he’s better than D-Wade, bro, I’m sorry… (Wade) also didn’t run into four Hall of Famers.”

Is James Harden better than Dwyane Wade?

Harden and Wade have had completely different trajectories in the NBA. While The Beard might be more recent in his individual accomplishments, his tendency to disappear in the most clutch moments and give up on, not one, but three different teams, has raised questions about his hunger to win championships.

On the flip side, D-Wade will go down as one of the most loyal players in the history of the league who sacrificed his role on the offensive end to help his teammates do better, allowing him to become a three-time NBA champion.

From an accolade standpoint, Harden is a the 10-time All-Star, 3-time scoring champion and 2-time assists champion with seven All-NBA selections. But the 2017-18 MVP’s lack of postseason success always hurts his case as one of the greatest guards yet his statistical output cannot be questioned.

As far as Wade is concerned, he is regarded as the third-best two-way shooting guard behind Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Being a 13-time All-Star and a Finals MVP, Wade’s two-way adaptability was his trademark. In addition to being a one-time Scoring Champ, he has also been selected three times for the All-Defensive Team, which is a feat Harden never achieved.

Harden has better numbers than Wade

In his illustrious 16-year NBA career, Wade averaged 22.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG 5.4 APG, and 1.5 SPG on 48.0% shooting from the field in his career. Whereas Harden, in 14 years, has averaged 24.7 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 7.0 APG, and 1.5 SPG on 44.2% shooting from the floor.

It appears that Teague might have downplayed Wade’s achievements slightly to favor his praise for Harden. After all, a player’s impact on their career should not be solely determined by their teammates, and even though Harden has played with three MVPs, he has yet to secure an NBA championship.