I’m not convinced.
Not convinced by LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Love or Chris Paul.
Dwight Howard? Pardon me, I had to laugh at that.
Sorry, but I’m not convinced any of these NBA All-Star alpha dogs are this year’s NBA (regular season) MVP.
Last season, it was hard to argue Derrick Rose was the league MVP when he not only led the Chicago Bulls to the best record in the league, but took his game to another stratosphere as a threat to score inside whenever and however he liked and expanded his perimeter shooting game.
Rose was unquestionably the league MVP as the Bulls were a legit championship team in just the kid’s third season.
This year, who has convinced you that he’s the most valuable player? LBJ hasn’t impressed me in weeks and actually made the “race†more complex than it should be.
LeBron is still playing one of the best seasons we’ve ever seen statistically and his efficiency rate is off the charts. But the way he’s played lately, having actually watched some of his games in the last month, tells you what we’ve seen for years. James knows how to fill a stat sheet, but in key moments â€" and even key games â€" he still leaves you scratching your and wondering why he isn’t as dominant as his stats would have you believe.
Understand, the MVP should belong to James and he should be running away from the competition. But we’ve kind of seen this from LeBron before and we’ve also seen both James and the Heat have a mediocre second half of the season.
Durantula is the hot name that every seems to be pushing into the lead of the MVP race. My problem is, for as many people who try to discredit James for playing alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, how can you give Durant a pass for playing with a point guard (Russell Westbrook) who takes more shots than him?
Durant is having a heck of a season, no doubt, but MVP? I’m not so sure how much separates Westbrook and Durant apart on the MVP race itself.
Don’t laugh. Oklahoma City is 20-4 when Westbrook takes more shots than Durant. I’m not sure if that’s winning basketball in the postseason, but in the regular season, Westbrook is just as important as Durant.
And what has Durant added to his game that convinces you he’s better than before. He still can’t get to his spot on the floor whenever he wants, still finishes poorly at times and still isn’t close to being a great defender.
Kobe Bryant is amazing and I’m not sure just how he’s scoring more at age 33, than he did at age 30. Well, besides the fact that Kobe seems to be shooting more than he has in a long while.
And that’s not a knock on Bryant. Most games he’s played, he’s had to take that many shots to keep the Los Angeles Lakers among the best teams in the West. But as his scoring has kept the Lakers in games, it’s taken them out at times too. I still wonder how much better the Lakers would be if his two seven-footers Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum earned more touches and shot attempts.
There’s an argument for Kobe to be named league MVP, but I’m not so sure it’s a very strong one. Especially with Kobe’s spotty defensive efforts.
Kevin Love is playing superbly for the Minnesota Timberwolves, but still hasn’t been great on the defensive end of the floor and his team has the fourth-worst record in the West. No one had a better month in March than Love, as he averaged 30.7 points per game and 13.8 rebounds per game. Love is a legit superstar in this league, but stats alone don’t make you an MVP (see LeBron James).
Chris Paul has meant the most to the LA Clippers rise to a playoff contender this year. Paul does it all on both ends of the floor, yet the Clippers aren’t even the best team in Los Angeles. He hasn’t shown me enough that he’s this year’s MVP either.
No player has shown me he’s this year’s MVP. There’s enough time for LeBron to clean things up by the end of the regular season to win it if he steps up his play.
The rest just make hollow arguments for it.
Joey Baskerville is a sports writer for The Journal-Standard and can be reached at jbaskerville@journalstandard.com
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