What Do You Prefer In An MVP?
Ever since I can remember my favorite food has been pasta. To be more specific, my favorite food is the pasta that my grandmother makes. It's fantastic. I will not be told otherwise. When it comes to movies either comedies or horror movies work. Why does this matter? Why am I telling you this? I bring this up because everybody has specific preferences about what they enjoy. Some people like movies with action and In-N-Out Burgers. Sports, and the people who play, are no different
About a year ago there was a debate about who the MVP of the 2013-14 regular season was. Do you give it to LeBron James for the fifth time in six years or does Kevin Durant get welcomed into the club? LeBron and Durant both led their teams to the second best record in their conferences and both were at the top of their games. Durant was leading the league in scoring for the fourth time in five years and LeBron was trying to take his team to the NBA Finals for the fourth straight year. That would be a feat that hadn't been done since Larry Birds' Celtics in the 1980's. In the end, Durant received the MVP, the "You the real MVP" memes were created, and we went about our day.
Here's where semantics comes into play. The word MVP has a lot of meanings. Does it mean the best player in the game? Does it mean the most valuable player to a team if he were to suffer an injury? Does it mean the best player on the best team? All are valid criteria but, honestly, in the end, it's whatever a specific media member wants it to be. I think they keep the "Most VALUABLE Player" title so shows based in Bristol, Conn. can have topics.
Regardless, this year the MVP category is a question of what do you prefer. What style of play entertains you the most? As it stands right now there are four players that have a legitimate chance to win MVP. In no particular order the names are LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Stephen Curry. That's the list. Don't give me Marc Gasol, Anthony Davis or Damian Lillard. They're all tremendously talented and major reason why their teams are where they are. With that said, they won't get MVP votes. At best they'll be in fifth place and a distant fifth place at that.
That includes Anthony Davis, even as he's having a year where he averages more points that Stephen Curry, (24.5 PPG) averages more rebounds than Kevin Love (10.3 RPG) and leads the league in blocks (2.81 BPG). He turns 22 today by the way. If he's healthy next year vote for him… just don't do it this year.
Without further ado, here are the nominees.
PREFENCE ONE: GO WITH WHAT YOU KNOW
Preference one is to give it to the best player in the game. It's the seasoned vet that scouts and GM's would take for the next three to five years to start a team and has been doing it for years. That player is LeBron James. His team is currently second in the Eastern Conference with a record of 41-25 as well as winners of 22 of their last 27 games.
Need more proof that LeBron matters to the team? The Cavaliers are 2-9 in the 11 games he missed and 97-231 in the four years he left the team for Miami.
As far as the numbers go, LeBron is third in scoring (26.0 PPG) seventh in assists (7.3 APG) while also averaging 5.7 rebounds per game and 1.6 steals per game. He's the best player in the game, but doesn't always get the MVP award. It's similar to how Michael Jordan was treated in MVP voting in the 1990's.
I see you out there message board trolls. Now, before you come at me with full force, let me explain. Is LeBron as good as Michael Jordan was? No. Honestly, nobody will probably ever reach Jordan when it comes to the NBA. At this point Jordan is more of a mythical God than a human being. You could create a starting five of Magic, Kobe, Bird, Duncan and Kareem vs. Michael and four guys working at Costco and people would still say, "Michael would find a way."
With that being said, when it comes to voting for MVP's every year, Jordan and LeBron are in the same boat. They're the best player in the game, but don't always get MVP votes. Jordan didn't win MVP in '93 or '97 because Barkley and Malone had better stories and you can only write the "Michael is great" or "King James is amazing" narrative so many times.
In the 1990's Jordan played seven full seasons. He played from 1990-1993 and from 1996-1998. In that time he won four MVP trophies and was in the top three in voting the other three years. He was the best in the game but didn't always win the award.
In the 1994-95 season Jordan returned to play 17 games after he decided to stop playing professional baseball and return to the NBA.
A funny and random stat about Jordan is that he actually received more MVP votes in the 1995 season (the season he played only 17 games) than Cedric Ceballos. Ceballos was an All-Star that year and averaged over 20 points a game and eight rebounds. That has to stink for Ceballos.
LeBron is still the player you would take first in a pickup basketball game but that doesn't mean he's the most VALUABLE player. See what I did there.
PREFERENCE TWO: THE FIRECRACKER
Preference two goes to the pissed off rattlesnake of a player named Russell Westbrook. If anybody had the sociopathic mentality that MJ and Kobe had, it's Westbrook. You don't believe me? Look at how important he takes being left hanging in the middle of the fourth quarter.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/03/russell-westbrook-hanging-left_n_6604654.html
The man seems to want to not only be the reason that you lose, but want's to see you in the agony of defeat as you kiss his ring. The man currently looks like Maximus Decimus Meridius from the movie Gladiator after he had surgery on his face last week and he still goes 100 mph on EVERY play. This dunk going coast to coast helps that argument.
Nothing will get in his way of winning the game. Oh no! Kevin Durant is injured again in February. It doesn't matter. Russ has averaged over 34 points a game in that time. Uh oh! The team brought in five new players over the last few months and the chemistry is off. It doesn't matter. Russell is averaging over 11 assists since everyone has arrived with a triple double in five of the last six games. Westbrook leads the league in points, (27.4 PPG) is fourth in assists, (8.3 APG) second in steals (2.1 SPG) and averages more rebounds (7.1 RPG) than Carlos Boozer, Brook Lopez and Mason Plumlee. All of the players mentioned are at least six inches taller than Westbrook. The man always has a scowl on his face and never looks like he's tired, ever. He's the powder keg of explosives ready to explode in every game and will do whatever he has to do to win.
PREFERENCE THREE: THE JAW DROPPER
Option three is the best player playing on the best team. Stephen Curry is doing things that video games don't even let you get away with. Every time he puts it up you believe it's going in, even if he's falling away or dribbling between four players the way he did the other day.
Did you see the video? That's not human. That shot wins a game of H-O-R-S-E every time. The three-point contest this year was an amazing list of people and he still dominated the field. He's tied for fifth in points, (23.6 PPG) sixth in assists (7.8 APG) and first in steals (2.13 SPG). All of this is taking place while shooting the most three pointers in the league (477) and still making nearly 42% of them. (41.9%) The man has shot over 47% from threes since January 30th as the team has gone 13-4.
PREFERENCE FOUR: THE MATADOR MAKER
Finally, we have the beard. James Harden may be the player who means the most to his team. When Rockets GM Daryl Morey was constructing the team a few years ago he had Harden on one side and Dwight Howard on the other. One anchors the offense, and the other handles the defense.
However, Howard has only played in 32 games this year so Harden had to pick up the metaphorical slack. He did. He averages 27.4 points per game (2nd to Westbrook) 7.1 assists per game and 5.8 rebounds per game. Go back and look at LeBron's numbers. It's basically the same as what Harden is doing and Harden is doing it in a tougher conference. The Rockets have the third best record in the West and are within shouting distance of second place.
BACK TO REALITY
Now, like everything in life there are strengths and weaknesses to each candidate. While everyone brings certain good qualities to the table there are things that people don't like that will take votes away from them.
In the case of LeBron, it's familiarity mixed with a full body of work. LeBron may be putting up tremendous numbers this year but his numbers are down almost universally from last year (when he didn't win the MVP) and he took a few weeks off in the beginning of the season to "recover". Those things don't sit well with the voters.
In the case of Russell Westbrook there's a lot of leftover resentment in the media about Westbrook. For years people didn't like that he would shoot as much, if not more, than Durant. Durant was the golden boy of the media and Westbrook was the younger brother who always got in trouble. In the media's eyes there has to be a pecking order of who takes the most shots otherwise it can't work. (Hello Garnett and Sprewell)
Not only that, but Westbrook has only been doing these eye popping things for a few weeks. As astounding as it is, he needs a bigger body of work. If he can keep this pace up for the remainder of the season he may have a better case.
With Curry you have the argument of depth. As good as Curry is, Klay Thompson's emergence as a legitimate star, Draymond Green's three point range and defensive intensity and Andrew Bogut's defensive prowess at his side lowers the impressiveness of Curry's year. People may argue that if he weren't there the team may still make the playoffs. Maybe they wouldn't be as good, but they'd still get a playoff spot.
Which brings us to the bearded one. James Harden is tremendous as a slashing guard. He gets to the line 9.7 times a game. (Best in the NBA) However, the flopping that James Harden is getting associated with hurts his chances. He may get to the line but the flops captured online over the years are growing and it's happening more and more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwhhbV1um1U
Harden made more contact with Chandler but Harden acted like a sniper was in the building in the first link and the second one is an Oscar worthy acting job.
Not only that, but his other problem has nothing to do with what he does on the court. The general manger I mentioned earlier, Daryl Morey, is starting feuds with everybody. He had a twitter beef with Charles Barkley over analytics, which seemed very "Jocks vs. Nerds-y" before he moved on to angering the seemingly cheery Steve Kerr about who he thought the MVP of the season is.
Oh and don't forget about the twitter message he sent out earlier about gynecology. I'm not going to put a link to that, but a Google search will suffice. Be careful with that search. The point is, the Rockets, as a team, aren't viewed as humble. That's something that the media LOVES to narrate and it hurts Harden's case.
So who wins? Currently, the Vegas odds currently have Curry as the favorite with 8/11 odds. That basically means if you wager $110 you only win $80. It's the only player with uneven odds like that. If Curry can sniff The Bulls' 72 wins from 1996 and get around 67 or 68 wins then maybe that will be enough.
Thirteen times from 1956 and on (the year they started giving out the MVP trophy) a team has won at least 66 games. Only three times (1972, 1997 and 2008) has that team not had the MVP. The first time was because Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a freak of nature the likes of which the NBA has never seen. The second time was because… uh… boredom. Honestly I don't know why Karl Malone got it over Jordan in 1997. Maybe because there numbers were close enough and why not give it the mailman. The third time was because nobody on that Celtics team was having that great of a year and Kobe deserved at least one MVP before he retired.
If the Warriors can get to 66 wins, history is on Curry's side.
The funny thing about those three times the 66+ wins team didn't get the MVP is what happened to them in the playoffs. In all three of those years the team with the 66+ wins beat the team of the guy who won the MVP. The Lakers beat Abdul-Jabbar's Bucks in the Western Conference Finals. The Bulls beat the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals and the Celtics beat the Lakers in the Finals. Therefore, if the Warriors do get 66 or more wins but the award goes to Harden, take the Warriors in a series against the Rockets. History will be on your side. Until then, enjoy the show all these guys are putting on.