The NBA MVP
The NBA MVP award always has some controversy behind it. There are countless arguments about what the MVP award really means and who deserves it. Does it go to the best player on the best team? Does it go to the best player carrying a mediocre team? Does it go to the player with the best stats? Every year there seems to be a new criteria on why the MVP of the league is awarded to whoever it is awarded to. This year is no different, as it is one of the tightest MVP races the league has seen in some years. With just over 2 weeks left in the regular season, there are a few MVP candidates worthy of winning the award: James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook, Isaiah Thomas and, as always, Lebron James.
Isaiah Thomas of the Boston Celtics is having a stellar season, averaging 29 ppg at 46% shooting with 6 apg, 91% from the free throw line and 38% from 3 point range. The Celtics also boast the Eastern Conference's 2nd best record behind Cleveland, at 43-25. Thomas has come up with big game after big game for the Celtics, showing a little bit of Allen Iverson in his little man game (listed at 5'10"). The Celtics have a nice roster, with defensive guys like Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder taking a big step forward this season, as well as guys like Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown providing big sparks off the bench. They also signed All-Star Center Al Horford over the off-season, so that doesn't hurt either. The Celtics are also a special team because they play team ball. Other than Thomas and Horford, nobody has inflated stats and they all play together. But in my opinion, if you take Isaiah Thomas off of the team, I'm not so sure that they have the 2nd best record in the East. They could still make the playoffs, but in the bottom 4 seeds, maybe even 8th overall. They obviously would not win as many games as they do, but the scoring element that Thomas brings is almost unmatched in the league this season. I feel that is what makes Thomas a deserving MVP candidate, but he's not my MVP.
Lebron James is in the MVP mix every year. He is the best player in the league by far, and has been for some time now. Every team he's ever been on has a chance to reach the Finals, and that's mainly because of him. His teams have reached the Finals the past 6 years in a row, and barring injury or a total collapse against specifically Boston, Toronto or Washington, the Cavs will probably be in the Finals for Lebron James' 7th appearance in a row. My only issue with Lebron as MVP over and over again is the roster of the teams he plays for. He went to 4 Finals, winning 2 with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh as teammates (Ray Allen also played a big factor in Miami's last title victory), and he's been to the last 2 Finals with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. To win an NBA championship, you must have more than one superstar, so that's not a knock on his rings. Lebron James always puts his teams in a position to win a championship. But for regular season play, a team with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, or Wade and Bosh, could still make the playoffs without Lebron, and for that reason, I don't put him as my MVP this season.
Kawhi Leonard falls under the category of "best player on the best team". As of now, the Spurs sit 1 game behind the Warriors for first place in the West, but with the loss of Kevin Durant, the Warriors are expected to enter the playoffs in the 2 seed while the Spurs take advantage and snag the top spot. Kawhi Leonard is still young, and yet has so many accomplishments, having already been to 2 Finals, winning a championship in 1 as well as being the youngest Finals MVP in league history. He is, without question, the best defender in the league, always matching up with the oppositions best player, and yet still has enough in the tank to go out and score 26 ppg at a 49% clip, 90% from the free throw line, and 6 rpg from the SF position. Kawhi Leonard is the total package, but he is not my MVP this season, because of the team he plays for. The San Antonio Spurs have been in the playoffs for the last 20 years in a row, and coach Gregg Popovich is one of the best NBA coaches ever. They have won 5 championships in that 20 year span, and although Tim Duncan is now retired, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are still playing and bring that championship experience and pedigree to the team, along with Kawhi. The Spurs also brought in Lamarcus Aldridge last season to play next to Duncan in his final season, and signed Pau Gasol this past off-season to make up for the loss of Duncan. In my opinion, a team without Kawhi Leonard but with Aldridge, Gasol, Parker, Ginobili and some other key players like Danny Green and Patty Mills, still makes the playoffs, albeit without a good chance at actually reaching the Finals.
So the only two left are James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Harden has been enjoying an amazing season, leading the Houston Rockets to the 3rd seed in the West under new coach Mike D'antoni. The D'antoni offense has been great for Harden in his switch from SG to PG, not only for his scoring 29 ppg but also in averaging a career high and league leading 11 apg. He has 17 triple doubles on the season, 3 with 40 or more points, 2 of those 40 point triple doubles coming in back to back games. He is only 1 of 4 players to get back to back 40 point triple doubles, and 1 of only 3 to have 3 40 point triple doubles on a season (Russell Westbrook has also accomplished both of these feats). It really has been a spectacular season for Harden, and in any other circumstance he would be my MVP. But I feel the D'antoni system makes players look a lot better than they actually are, and this might be the case for the Houston Rockets altogether. The Rockets were not even expected to make the playoffs before the season started, and here they sit at 3rd in the Western Conference. The Rockets' system is based on spacing and quick 3 point shooting, so they score a lot of points. But they are not a great defensive team, which has been the case for all D'antoni coached teams throughout history, such as the Suns.
The Phoenix Suns of the mid 2000's were one of the most high octane offenses the league had ever seen, routinely coming into the playoffs with the 1st or 2nd seed, but they never got much going in the playoffs and were never able to reach the Finals. And although he coached Steve Nash, one of the better PG's in league history, I feel Nash's stats were inflated as well in this system, helping him to win 2 league MVP's, one of which many players and fans still believe rightfully belongs to Kobe Bryant. The 2006 NBA MVP was awarded to Steve Nash for his 2nd MVP award in as many years, mainly because he was the best player on one of the top 2 teams in the West. Granted, Nash was shooting at a high percentage, but the system and the team around him made the game a lot easier for him. If you took Nash off that team, they still had studs in Shawn Marion and a young Amare Stoudemire that could potentially get that team into the playoffs, especially with that offense. In 2006, Kobe Bryant was averaging 35 ppg at a 45% clip. That's a great season, and on top of that, he dragged the Lakers by himself into the 7 seed in the Western Conference playoffs that year, after missing out the previous season after a big trade that sent Shaquille O'neal to the Miami Heat. The Lakers didn't get much back in that trade outside of Lamar Odom and Caron Butler (who was later traded to Washington for Kwame Brown), so the roster was extremely thin. There were guys like Smush Parker, Devean George, Chris Mihm, Von Wafer and Stanislav Medvedenko playing heavy minutes for this team, which made the fact that the Lakers even made the playoffs, that much more amazing. If you took Kobe off of this Laker team, they might not have won 15 games, yet with Kobe they made the playoffs. That's why he would've been the rightful MVP of 2006.
And that is why Russell Westbrook is my MVP for 2017. This past summer, the Oklahoma City Thunder were dealt a devastating blow after losing Kevin Durant to the Golden State Warriors in free agency. This came right after the Thunder gave up a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals to the Warriors, so this had to hurt even more. The Thunder then proceeded to trade Serge Ibaka to the Orlando Magic for Victor Oladipo and rookie Domantas Sabonis. Needless to say, this was a depleted roster heading into this season, with many people not expecting much, let alone the playoffs, out of this team. But Westbrook has taken the burden on his shoulders and carried this team to the 6th seed in the West at this point. He's done that by finishing games with triple double after triple double, compiling a league leading 33 so far in the season, and already with 70 for his career, good for 5th all-time. The NBA record for triple doubles in a season is 41, by Oscar Robertson, back in the 1961-62 season, where he finished the season averaging a triple double, the only time it has happened in NBA history. Russell Westbrook is averaging a triple double at this point in the season, and if he continues at this pace for the next two weeks, will finish the season averaging a triple double. The OKC roster isn't great, with little to no offensive help for Westbrook outside of Oladipo and Enes Kanter (if he can stay healthy). Steven Adams is a good rim protector and decent rebounder, but that alone can't cut it if the Thunder want to make a deep postseason run. The midseason acquisition of Doug McDermott and Taj Gibson was a good move by the Thunder, adding defense and rebounding in Gibson and floor spacing with McDermott's shooting ability, but these are hardly players that can really change a series in the Thunder's favor. If you were to remove Westbrook off of the Thunder roster, I really don't think a team led by Oladipo, Adams and Kanter can make the postseason, especially in the Western Conference. But in true NBA form, the voters will probably neglect the impact Westbrook makes on his team, and go with James Harden, strictly due to the teams better record. For years, people (myself included) have compared the passion and effort Westbrook plays with to the likes of Kobe, and now it looks like the NBA is now treating him the way they treated Kobe almost 10 years ago.
