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While the NHL playoffs and MLB regular season both kicked off recently, it’s the NBA playoffs that have garnered the most attention and highest ratings thus far. With high-profile suspensions (the Boston Celtics’ Kevin Garnett) and surprising upsets (the Portland Trailblazers beating the Phoenix Suns in Phoenix without their best player, Brandon Roy) there are already multiple story lines developing. However, there is something else that has stood out to me after watching most of the opening-round games: Some very deserving candidates have been left out of the MVP discussion.
There is no question that Cleveland Cavaliers’ megastar LeBron James is going to win the award this year. I won’t argue that he shouldn’t win, but I will admit that I’m not convinced it’s as much of a landslide as everyone thinks it is. The other names that have been thrown around as deserving candidates by most experts are: the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, the Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki, the Denver Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony, and either Steve Nash or Amar’e Stoudemire from the Phoenix Suns.
First of all, when there is more than one guy from the same team is worthy of being named MVP, that means neither of them is the MVP. So we can easily eliminate Nash and Stoudemire from the mix. The next group consists of Bryant, Nowitzki and Anthony. Again, none of these three individuals is deserving of the award, and there is a simple explanation: Their supporting casts are just too good. For the Lakers, it’s Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom; for the Mavericks, it’s Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion and Caron Butler; and for the Nuggets, it’s Chauncey Billups, Kenyon Martin and JR Smith. Each of these teams has endless offensive options.
So that leaves Kevin Durant. Of the six guys other than LeBron that are consistently considered MVP candidates, Durant is easily the most deserving. He became the youngest player in NBA history to lead the league in scoring this year and led his team to their first-ever playoff appearance. He did it with Nenad Krstic and Thabo Sefolosha in the starting lineup.
But the really disappointing thing about the MVP discussions is the two guys who are probably most deserving other than Lebron are not even being mentioned: the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose and the Miami Heat’s Dwayne Wade.
These two are as important to the success of their teams as LeBron is to the Cavs and much more important than the others I’ve talked about. Both led their teams to the playoffs and both did it with supporting casts made up of guys who wouldn’t get on the court in a pick-up game at the local YMCA. Wade’s second option is either an immature and thus far disappointing Michael Beasley or a washed up Jermaine O’Neal.
And who is Rose’s second option? Luol Deng? Joakim Noah? Please.
Again, LeBron James is going to win the MVP award and it’s no secret. After leading a pretty average group of guys to the best record in the NBA, he’s as deserving as anyone. But if the award is truly meant for the most valuable player, Rose and Wade are right there nipping at his heels.
Bangor Daily News