The 2012 NBA MVP race is closer than people think, but LeBron James still deserves the honor over Kevin Durant.
James and Durant led the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder to No. 2 seeds in the Eastern and Western conferences respectively. The Thunder finished with one more win at the end of the regular season. In terms of where they led their teams before the playoffs, it's dead-even.
Then you look at how valuable they were to their teams.
There is a case to be made that Durant was more valuable because James had Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, while Durant had just Russell Westbrook.Â
However, look at their teams more closely and Durant actually has the better overall team. When you take into account role players and bench players, the Heat simply don't have a lot of depth beyond the Big Three. That's why James was actually more valuable to his team than it appears.
Furthermore, look at each player's performance during the regular season.
Durant was the scoring champion, averaging an even 28 points per game while shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor and 38 percent from downtown. In terms of pure scoring, Durant was better than James.
Who is most deserving of 2012 NBA MVP?
Who is most deserving of 2012 NBA MVP?
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LeBron James
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Kevin Durant
That being said, you have to take the rest of their games into account.
Durant became a better rebounder this season (averaging 8.0 boards), but the case can be made that he still didn't have the same overall impact as James. Beyond averaging 27.1 points on 53 percent shooting, James also averaged 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists.
This is why James is often compared to Magic Johnson. He's basically a multi-dimensional beast. Durant isn't the passer James is, meaning he doesn't get his teammates involved as much, and that may be the defining difference between the two.
Both players are worthy of the 2012 MVP, but James deserves it more. I think Magic Johnson would agree.
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