It’s Dwyane Wade, burning up the charts, and ready to be the next NBA superstar

Tell me something negative about Dwyane Wade.

I’ll wait.

Waiting…

Waiting…

Sorry, having an unusually spelled first name isn’t negative, although it does confuse writers and television graphics people from time to time.

Still waiting…

The truth is, you can’t find a negative about the Miami Heat playmaker, which accounts for half of why Wade ought to be the biggest name in the NBA.

We’ve been having the wrong debate, trying to decide whether LeBron James or Kobe Bryant is the next Michael Jordan. You can’t hold the conversation without including Wade.

Wade fills almost every requirement for the role of MJ2. He delivers spectacular plays, impressive leadership and a pleasant public personality, with no arrests or skeletons in his closet. And, he looks to be on the verge of adding the final missing piece of clutch playoff performances.

The point where Jordan stepped beyond the showmanship of Dominique Wilkins to become his own sports brand-name conglomerate came in the playoffs. Greatness can’t be bestowed without delivering in the postseason.

Wade’s latest MJ moment came Monday night. You saw it, if you watched the game or caught any glimpse of the highlights. Wade drives inside, twists in the lane, gets hit and knocked cockeyed but flips the basketball backward over his right shoulder and into the basket.

It was the equivalent of Jordan switching hands in midair for a reverse lay-up against the Lakers.

It was also confirmation that Wade’s playoff greatness is upon us.

For emphasis, Wade hit a deep sideline jumper with one of those skinny, pesky Pistons draped all over him.

Wade’s unselfish, team-first play is contagious. Shaquille O’Neal looks 10 years younger playing alongside him. Antoine Walker passes up a shot every seven or eight touches to make him happy. James Posey knows Wade will set him up in the corner, which gives Posey the incentive to get open. Gary Payton, who got in Wade’s face in a petulant display against the Chicago Bulls, has since shut up and filled the role player slot for which he was hired.

Wade averages 30 points per game and never looks as if he’s hogging the ball. Could the same be said about LeBron or Kobe? Not every night, every game, the way it is with Wade.

Wade’s brilliance makes Pat Riley look like vintage Riles again.

Before I hear a rebuttal from Kobe fans – or should I say Kobe fan? – I acknowledge Bryant has three rings to Wade’s zero.

But Bryant owes the peak-level Shaq a debt for those titles, and his personality assures he will never be embraced by the public the way Jordan was, and the way Wade could be. Bryant came across as distant before he was perceived to have run Shaq out of Los Angeles, before the sexual assault accusations, before the tearful public confession of adultery, before the $4 million ring he gave his wife as a peace offering.

James is already on his way to becoming the game’s biggest, most spectacular star in the coming years. That seems all but certain given his age, desire and size, which lets him play inside and out. But he’ll also be handcuffed by a weak supporting cast unless secret maneuvers in the commissioner’s office manage to boost the Cleveland roster, or free agency carries James to New York, Boston or Philadelphia.

Wade’s time is now. San Antonio, led by the solid but too stoic Tim Duncan, has left the building. The Pistons, an example of winning through team chemistry, are about to be exiled at Wade’s hands.

The NBA superstar door is open, and you need a championship to enter.

If you’ve been paying attention, these playoffs have been as thrilling, exciting and well-played as any in recent history. A new era is upon us.

While Shaq remains a force of nature on occasion, he’s in the twilight of his career. He’s the Heat’s No.2 option.

It’s Dwyane Wade’s turn to seize the mantle of NBA’s best. Of that, I’m positive.