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I'm of the opinion that Wade is (was) a better athlete than both by a healthy margin.
Strength, stability and balance - Wade has been a superior finisher to Westbrook throughout all points of his career (.657 vs .580). While we think of Westbrook as a slasher, Wade was even more of a slasher, attempting 35.2% of his shots over his career within 3 feet of the basket compared to 34.8% for Westbrook. I don't think it's fair to look at Rose's career stats since we know he went downhill after multiple injuries, but his best season (10-11) was still worse than Wade's career average. Wade is a bigger, stronger player than both Rose and Westbrook and was simply better at absorbing contact and finishing at the rim.
Multidirectional agility/speed; moving quickly in all directions - This is a tougher one. Rose and Westbrook have more of a herky jerky style of play whereas Wade tends to be much smoother. I think this category is basically a push since all 3 are (were) pretty good at starting/stopping on a dime and breaking ankles.
Vertical explosiveness/quickness - Again, this is tough. It's hard sometimes to wipe the old, broken down Cavs/Bulls/Lebron Heat era Wade from our minds, so we forget how explosive "Flash" was. If there's anywhere I'd give an edge to Westbrook, however, it's here.
Footwork/coordination - I'd say this goes to Wade rather easily.
Thoughts?
I actually agree with this and I dare say that Wade is tougher/more physical than the other 2.
Here are my own random criteria under athleticism:
Strength - Wade..he had the biggest frame and was often matched up against bigger players. He's the only one of the three to regularly challenge big men at the rim. During his prime it seemed like half of his baskets were "and ones".
Top Speed - probably Westbrook
one legged jump - Westbrook. Prime Wade a close second. Rose looked uncomfortable jumping off one leg.
two legged jump - Rose. Pre-injury rose showed some 2 legged launches where his head was nearly rim level. this was unreal for someone only 6'3". Just ask Goran Dragic.
lateral quickness - Rose. He was the shortest of the three and had some lightning quick herky jerky moves.
But overall, all three in their primes were so absurdly athletic that trying to differentiate is like splitting hairs. It's also easy to forget just how athletic Wade was back in 05/06...he was a freak of nature and his nick name "flash" is well deserved.
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