NO LOVE FOR LEBRON

A Logical Look at the MVP Race

In today’s sports world, numbers are used quite frequently in debates over everything from the best team to the best player. The way I see it, the same numbers often prove and disprove the same arguments.

Lately, you’ve been hearing about the Derrick Rose vs. LeBron James MVP debate. People reference James’ numbers and point to him as the clear favorite. I reference the fact that he has Dwayne Wade on his team, thus disqualifying both of them from debate altogether. They can’t both be top 5 or 10 MVP candidates. That’s just not logical.

People will then reference the Cleveland Cavaliers abysmal record since LeBron’s gracefully calculated departure from their city. Unfortunately, these numbers also don’t mean anything. For one, that team was riddled with injuries from key ‘bron supporters like Anderson Verajao, Mo Williams and the departures of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Shaq and Delonte West. While I don’t give much credit to those guys as far as viable championship quality supporting casts go, the ones left certainly have enough talent collectively to win 30-40 games if they had stayed healthy. But they lost the player who handled the ball the most and took the most shots. Then factor in the arrival of new coach, Byron Scott with his new system and it doesn’t matter what that player’s name is, this season was going to be a tough task.

If we dismiss all the non-LeBron related misfortunes, it’s actually more like a 15 game swing rather than 50. That seems pretty normal when you look around the league. Chris Bosh, who was part of his own gracefully calculated departure from Toronto, has had a similar effect on his former team. While highly overrated from an overall NBA aspect, Bosh had the ball a lot and took the majority of the shots in the Raptors’ offense, which also lost Hedo Turkoglu. Like LeBron, Bosh has never won in this league. However, his teams never came close to having regular seasons like the Cavs. Toronto’s current 17 win tally is not that unexpected after last year’s 40-42 record that left them out of playoff contention.

Now, Miami and their 3 all-stars are on pace for less wins than Cleveland’s 61 last year.

I would much rather take a look at a team trending upward. One that is run by a young, 3rd year point guard from Chicago by the name of Derrick Rose. In his first two years he had an inexperienced head coach in Vinny Del Negro, who I completely disliked from day one, but more importantly, was widely criticized by everyone from ESPN analysts to his own GM. Del Negro’s supporting cast of assistants was more impressive than Rose’s on the court. But both seasons ended with 41 wins and first round playoff exits; one more exciting than the other. The much maligned Bulls front office hired the right coach, Tom Thibodeau, in the off-season. And in a free agent class that most people drooled over, the Bulls stayed relatively grounded and signed Carlos Boozer, Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver, CJ Watson and insurance policy Kurt Thomas before “The Decision” even took place. Those moves all made me happy but the “experts” were focused on where LeBron ended up.

The Bulls started the season without Boozer for 18 games and nine games after his return, Joakim Noah went out for 30 games. New coach Tom Thibodeau successfully inserted a new offensive system while creating one of, if not the, best defensive teams in the league. And, as they say, the rest is history as this team currently sits at 41-18 with 23 games to play.

Rose’s numbers support his MVP candidacy. He is the only player in the league averaging top 10 APG and PPG. But, as I said before, numbers don’t tell the whole story. I don’t buy the argument that MVP’s should be decided based on how the team would look without their candidate, even if that argument does support Rose. First of all, the only way this thought even makes sense is if the star goes down with injury mid-season. You can’t assume the Bulls front office wouldn’t try to replace Rose if they had lost him much like Cleveland lost LeBron in the offseason. The Cavs didn’t even attempt to replace him. So, yes, if you take any team’s best player off the roster without a viable replacement or replacements, that team will struggle to win games.

Like I said, this argument actually supports Rose’s candidacy for MVP and is used by analysts everywhere as the bottom line. LeBron has two all-stars at his side, including one who had been the leader of the Heat for several years prior. However, the arrival of Dwayne Wade’s buddies caused GM Pat Riley to completely blow up any semblance of a team that might have currently existed. With all that said, I might actually give the nod to the Bulls sans Rose than Wade and Bosh’s Heat sans LeBron. But I would be splitting hairs.

What about Dwight Howard? Kevin Durant? Those guys are having MVP type seasons aren’t they? Yes and no. Howard’s Magic trail in the standings behind both the Heat and Bulls. But more importantly, Howard doesn’t make his teammates better. Yes, he is a guy who can drastically change a game with his size but he rarely makes passes for baskets out of the post. I know, numbers lie, but this guy is averaging less than 2 APG. That’s a pretty glaring statistic for a guy who some regard as a top player in the league. Maybe its because he’s never played with a legit power forward but he certainly has always had plenty of shooters to kick it out to. And his 14 RPG average hardly means anything to this writer since he usually plays with a size advantage over his teammates and the opposition.

Kevin Durant, however, is a different story. He scores very easily and his league leading 28.4 ppg tells that story. He’s also one of the league’s worst defenders on a team that ranks 20th in OPP FG%. He averages more assists than Dwight but I expect more than 2.8 from a guy who has the ball so much. He plays with a score-first point guard so someone has to pick up the slack. The Thunder currently hold the 4th seed in the West but that’s not a difficult task for such a potent offense.

Yes, as a Chicagoan and lifelong Bulls fan, I am most definitely biased on this subject. But, I think the objective NBA fan can see the validity to my arguments. Plus, LeBron hasn’t made clutch plays in several important games this season and their record against the top teams shows it. Rose on the other hand, has made the right play in late game situations time after time throughout the Bulls’ 41 wins, especially against the Spurs, Mavs, Lakers, Boston and the Heat. And that, my friends, is what the MVP award is all about.

This isn’t about the top players in the league. This is about who is most valuable to their team. If I was making a list of the top 5 players in the league, it would start with Kobe and end with Tim Duncan…and LeBron wouldn’t be in the middle. But, if you asked me to list the top 5 players with the most raw talent, LeBron would start it off with Blake Griffin not too far behind. Heck, if I had my way, I’d give the MVP award to Kobe Bryant every year he’s played since Shaq left LA…and Jordan would have, I don’t know, 10 MVP awards?

I do think numbers need to be considered in these talks but they’re just a starting point to a much longer and in-depth discussion.