Near the end of his gargantuan NBA MVP rankings column, Bill Simmons pointed out the many, year-to-year parallels between "24"'s Jack Bauer and Miami's Dwyane Wade:
2002: Wade submits a stellar sophomore year at Marquette (after not playing as a freshman) and puts himself on the map; Bauer submits a stellar Season 1 of "24" and puts himself on the map.Does Dwyane also have a hot daughter who's exceptionally dumb? Posted by Stephen Silver at April 18, 2009 12:25 PM2003: Wade carries Marquette to the Final Four; Bauer carries "24" to an excellent Season 2 in which he detonates a nuclear bomb in L.A. (no, not the Kobe incident in Colorado -- an actual nuclear bomb).
2004: Wade leads Miami to the NBA playoffs before losing in Round 2; Bauer fights off a heroin addiction and carries "24" to a solid Season 3 that falls apart down the stretch after he kills Nina Myers.
2005: Wade gets a new running mate (a controversial center named Shaq) and would've won the title if he didn't get injured during the Eastern finals; Jack gets a new running mate (a controversial girlfriend named Audrey) and could have had his best season ever if the "nuclear football" plot hadn't fallen apart right near the end.
2006: Wade enjoys his greatest season (Finals MVP, first title) and so does Bauer in Season 5 (which features David Palmer's assassination, Jack coming out of hiding in the Mojave desert, President Logan's meltdown, a really good nerve gas plot and Jack getting kidnapped by the Chinese). Both Wade and Jack peaked in 2006. And if that's not enough, Gary Payton co-starred with both of them: As GP on Miami and Wayne Palmer on "24."
2007: Wade's Miami team falls apart (44 wins, first-round exit) as Wade's supporting cast crumbles and poor Wade is too banged up from previous seasons to carry them. Jack's TV show falls apart (worst "24" season by far) and his supporting cast crumbles (no Tony Almeida or Michelle Dessler and too much President Wayne Palmer, the Mark Blount of "24") as he's too banged up from previous seasons to carry them.
2008: Wade's season gets cancelled by injuries (he plays only 51 games); Jack's season gets cancelled by the writer's strike. Everyone wonders if we'll ever see vintage Wade or vintage Jack again.
2009: Comeback years all around! Wade submits his best regular season ever; Jack leads "24" to its strongest first 18 episodes ever. Now we're heading for the playoffs and who the hell knows what will happen?