LeBron James, MVP Candidate
February 10, 2008
We hear frequently that sports is a ruthless merito cracy, that everything that moves is quantified, measured, and ranked. Style counts, but in the long run, sports are not about "how" but "how many."
We further hear that the appeal of sports is its immediacy. "What have you done for me lately?" says the disgruntled fan when the star player encounters a slight slump.
Yet when it comes to passing out the most important awards, these ideals are honored more in the breach than in the observance.
Take the Most Valuable Player award in the NBA, which LeBron James, in a perfect world, should do easily.
Recent polls of MVP voters do not indicate that James is the favorite. Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics is.
But James has the numbers almost across the board on Garnett, who won the MVP award in 2004. James' figures are 30.1 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 7.3 assists, compared to Garnett's 19.7, 9.9 and 3.8. James leads the league in scoring average; Garnett is 39th. James is 39th in rebounding; Garnett is 24th. James is eighth in assists; Garnett is 59th.
Looking inside the numbers, the discrepancy is more pronounced. Garnett has missed five straight games. The Celtics are 3-2 in them, including a one-point loss at The Q to the Cavs. They are 37-9 overall.
James has missed six games. The Cleveland Cavaliers are 0-6 in them, including a pounding in Boston . In a season sabotaged by contractual holdouts and an injury siege that left them without five of the first eight players in their rotation Friday in Atlanta , the Cavs are 28-21.
It is a disservice to Ira Newble, Damon Jones and Eric Snow, who have played well in emergency situations, to say James is doing it by himself. But the winless record without him shows his importance in drawing double teams, in passing, and in putting his teammates in positions to succeed.
The MVP award too often goes to the best player on the best team. But if the MVP is for the player who has done the most for his team, James has to be the leader.
Among other contenders, there is Kobe Bryant, whom James kills with kindness, just as Bill Russell used to do with Wilt Chamberlain -- and then beats him on the court, just as Russell also did to Wilt.
New Orleans guard Chris Paul is the most effective point guard in the league, but he also has more help in a reborn Tyson Chandler and in David West, whom I misjudged at Xavier. Still, when it comes to devising a threat package, a wing player of James' size and speed is simply more imposing than even the blinding quickness of Paul.
Garnett, though, is the biggest rival. He benefits from the season-long buzz about Boston 's new "Big Three" of Garnett, Ray Allen and holdover Paul Pierce.
No matter what happens with the Celtics, Garnett will never be the franchise's best player, as James already is here. The Celtics have too glorious a past.
Actually, though, Garnett wasn't even the best NBA player ever in Minnesota when he was with the Timberwolves. George Mikan of the Minneapolis Lakers was.
James was the most-hyped player in NBA history when he entered the league. He has, if anything, been even better than expected. How ironic if he were to be beaten out by Garnett because of publicity.
