How Public Perception of LeBron James and Kevin Durant Will Impact MVP Race - Bleacher Report

The MVP battle between LeBron James and Kevin Durant has been well documented and the voting promises to be extremely close.

If you're voting simply on numbers or success of their respective teams, either vote you cast would be a correct one. You can't go wrong with either player.

Yet the one thing that could eventually impact the MVP race is the public's perception of LeBron.

Everything about the season that James has put up, including his 37 points, six rebounds and seven assists Monday night in Miami's win over New Jersey, screams runaway MVP winner. However, fair or unfair, it's not that simple when it comes to LeBron.

James is the most scrutinized athlete in the world and it's the outside perception of him that will make the MVP race closer than it should be, or even cost LeBron the award.

How will the public perception of LeBron impact the MVP race?

How will the public perception of LeBron impact the MVP race?

• Will make the voting very close, but LeBron wins.

• Will cost LeBron the MVP.

• Won't have an impact, LeBron wins.

• It won't, Durant is the MVP anyway.

• Total votes: 0

Like it or not, James isn't perceived as a leader. He's looked at as a guy that disappears in the clutch.

ESPN and every other sports media outlet has made it their mission to point out James' failures in the clutch as often as they show his highlights. Different NBA analysts have made it a point to say all season that it doesn't matter what LeBron does in the regular season until they see him do it in the clutch in the postseason.

It's more of a story when the Heat lose a close game in the fourth quarter than it is when LeBron scores the final 17 points in a game to get Miami a win.

Is the public perception of LeBron fair? Of course not, but it's there and you would be kidding yourself if you didn't think it will impact the MVP race somehow.

Durant, on the other hand, is just as deserving, but doesn't have anything negative surrounding him.

He's the golden boy to the same people that find things to nitpick about LeBron's game. To Durant's credit, he's done much more to lead the Thunder this season and has come through more often with the game on the line, but the MVP shouldn't be decided by how one performs during the last 20 seconds of a game.

Photo Credit: Associated Press

Because Durant doesn't have the negative public perception, he can have a bad game or two and no one really cares.

If LeBron has a 7-of-18 shooting day, including 0-of-7 from three-point range, the way Durant did Monday in a loss against the Clippers, his game is torn apart and his struggles are brought into the public's eye.

It's not the same with Durant. It's just a loss and onto the next game.

LeBron should be the MVP, but there's no guarantee that he wins it.

Public perception will go a long way in determining the winner.