I actually think James will win the MVP this year if he gets to the 75 games played range. I think you could have made a reasonable argument he deserved it last year (especially with just how bad the Cavs were when he wasn't in the game).
You already made that argument last year. It was a really weak one. Leonard played worlds better defense than Lebron and was just as integral to their success. Lebron's team won 10 less games in a weaker conference and Lebron played with two fellow all-stars. This is to say nothing of how Harden led his team to a better record all-star and some of Westbrook's historic stats. Articles like this by Windhorst and super fans of Lebron always arguing how great he is or he was the best at everything make it so hard to enjoy what a great player Lebron is. We can see all the great things he does without having a personnel fan writer or super fans always making arguments.
I would actually find it so much more interesting to learn how Leonard has become such a dominant 2 way player. The spurs were a 35-40 win team last year without him. They have Aldridge, washed up Parker and Ginobli, Danny Green. I mean what Leonard is doing is absolutely incredible....Yet here we are...
Leonard is a great all around player, but his offensive load was nothing compared to the other 3 players in the discussion last year. He was an efficient scorer, but his ppg were less than the other 3. His assists were less than half the other 3. His rebounding were 2.3 rpg less than Harden (who was the lowest of the other 3). Leonard no question was the best defender of the group, but this is an offensive league and Leonard was by far the worst all around offensive player of that group. The other three often were bringing the ball up the court and generally leading their offenses, that is not Leonard nor his role, which allowed him to focus more defensively.
The Cavs were 17 points worse per 100 possession without James on the court (14.7 offensively and 2.3 defensively). The Spurs were 11.6 points worse per 100 possessions without Leonard on the court (10.4 offensively and 1.4 defensively). The Thunder were 12.5 points worse per possession without Westbrook on the court (10.5 offensively and 1.9 defensively). The Rockets were only 3 points worse without Harden on the court per 100 possessions (6.7 offensively, but they were actually 3.7 points better defensively).
So yes, Leonard was a better defender, but he was also on a team that played far better defense overall, as evident by both the Cavs and Thunder being worse than the Spurs defensively without their star. The fact that the Rockets were actually not much different of a team with or without Harden is why he never should have been in the MVP discussion. He was just so bad defensively and offensively really didn't make up for it (despite him having one of the greatest ppg and apg seasons in history).
James had one of the 3 best seasons of his career last year. Averaging a career high in both rebounds and assists and having his 3rd most efficient shooting season. Couple that with just how awful the Cavs were without him on the floor, and he should have won the MVP as he was clearly the most valuable player in the league where it mattered most (i.e. the point differential with him on vs off the court).
Topic: Windhorst PR....I mean, article on Lebron (Read 3041 times)