Baseline Awards 2013 Final Edition Part I: MVP
Kevin Durant had a terrific year, but LeBron James is once again MVP.
You might not see a better MVP race in the next 10 years. When was the last time an MVP debate featured players this good -- players having these kinds of seasons? Jason Kidd vs. Shaquille O'Neal in the early 2000s was an underrated battle, but it just doesn't compare.
Michael Jordan vs. Karl Malone featured two Hall of Famers, all-time talents, but you simply can't make an argument for Malone having been better than Jordan based on anything other han MJ fatigue.
But LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant? It's an amazing competition between two players having historic seasons on a personal and team level.
That's the most incredible thing. James redefined what we thought capable of a player in terms of versatility and efficiency this season. He led his team to the second-longest winning streak in NBA history and 60-plus wins.
Kevin Durant not only is within range of the scoring title, but has done it shooting 50-40-90 for the season. Carmelo Anthony's April dramatics have likely robbed Durant of his fourth scoring title, and the first for a player shooting 50-40-90, ever. But to have been that good, that efficient, while leading the Thunder to one of the highest point differential and scoring differential marks in NBA history?
Incredible. This was the MVP season we deserved.
LeBron James: I've advocated in the past for split-MVP winners, like in 2011, when the award really should have gone to Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard in a split. But this season, there's got to be one.
And it's LeBron, again.
James has tied his career mark for PER at 31.7. Buy into that number, don't buy into that number, but here's the list of the top five players in that metric of all time:
Wilt Chamberlain, Wilt Chamberlain, LeBron James, LeBron James, and Michael Jordan. So he's in good company.
LeBron's numbers this year: 27 points per game, with eight rebounds and seven assists. Shooting 57 percent from the field and a career-high 40 percent from three.
But forget the numbers, and you still have the strongest case for James. He does everything for the Heat. Brings the ball up, goes into the post, works the defense inside, scores inside. If they bring help, kicks to the perimeter shooter. Plays on the perimeter, drives past any and all defense, kicks out to shooters when help comes. Finishes the most devastating fast breaks in basketball. Defends the opponent's best player regardless of position.
Everything.
Maybe most impressive is the fact that James has swallowed every other possible voting angle this year, the ones that were left. Best player on the team with the best record? Check. Most important to his team? Check, even with the other two stars. Narrative? How about "beleaguered superstar finally rises to the apex of his career?" He's got it all.
Kevin Durant: Durant's impact has been MVP worthy. He's the most efficient scorer in basketball, and his excellence is expressed without forcing shots or possessions. He's become an even better defender, headed toward excellent, and remains a more impactful rebounder than he's given credit for. He's a better leader this season and raised his game in the absence of James Harden as both a scorer and distributor.
He would be a great MVP at the ripe old age of 24 ... if it weren't for LeBron.
The race was really neck and neck until that run where James averaged 60 percent shooting while scoring 30 points per game for six games. That lead into the 27-game winning streak, and that was really it. It was a battle until that happened. And then everyone largely came to the same conclusion. Until then, there was also a legitimate threat that the voters would succumb to LeBron fatigue.
But when the King raised his game to yet another level, you could tell from the voices with votes, it will be James. And it should be James. It's his Kingdom still, after all.
The remainder of the votes will be more interesting to figure out than the top two.
MVP VOTES FROM THE EOB STAFF
Royce Young:
1. LeBron James -- Here's how ridiculous LeBron is: His closest MVP competition had a near historical NBA season, and we're not even discussing this thing.
2. Kevin Durant -- Durant's had two, maybe three, MVP seasons already. But because of LeBron, he's still empty handed.
3. Chris Paul -- That stretch in the middle of the season where Paul was hurt, the Clippers looked helpless.
4. Russell Westbrook -- If you were dropped on to Earth today from another planet and watched the Thunder play, you might be confused as to who the team's best player is.
5. James Harden -- It's really no surprise that Harden exploded offensively this season. But the fact he's become such a leader and helped the Rockets exceed expectation is impressive.
Zach Harper:
1. LeBron James -- He's been the best player in the league on the best team that had a historic run while he had a historic run and he might be the best player on both ends of the floor. Seems qualified.
2. Kevin Durant -- Durant's season won't be entirely forgotten, especially if he wins the scoring title with 50/40/90, but it also might not be fully appreciated until we have time to step away from what LeBron is doing.
3. Chris Paul -- Sometimes, it feels like Chris Paul is the only thing keeping the Los Angeles Clippers in contention, mostly because he is the only thing keeping them in contention right now.
4. Russell Westbrook -- Speaking of under appreciated seasons by Thunder players, Westbrook is having the best season of his career and nobody seems to care because he doesn't shoot 70 percent from the field.
5. Kobe Bryant -- If we're trying to assess the most value, Kobe sneaks in just ahead of guys like Wade, Duncan, Melo, and Parker for me because I can't imagine how laughable this Lakers team would have been without him this season.
Chris Paul: Chris Paul is my third-vote getter, but I imagine he'll be lower down the chain when the actual vote tallies comes out. Paul's brilliance isn't defined by huge stat performances or many highlight reels. He's just the best point guard in the league and lethal in his execution. But Paul has consistently been the best player on the floor game in and game out this season. His defense is better than Kobe or Melo's, and his offense more effectual and self-created than Parker or Duncan's. A magnificent season for Paul, just short of cracking into the tier above him.
Kobe Bryant: Was Kobe Bryant's defense poor this year? Absolutely. It was terrible. He lost guys in transition, drifted in the half-court, made poor efforts, the works. It was awful.
I've also never seen a finer offensive season from the man. Ever. He had seasons where he scored more points, but this season he finished with his highest eFG percentage (effective field goal percentage -- factoring 3-point shooting) and his highest assist percentage (percentage of teammate field goals assisted while he was on the floor) of his career.
He played in the flow of the offense, executing as both distributor and tip of the spear when called for. He carried the burden as he always has, a career average for usage, while being more efficient and more effectual than ever. At age 34, it was incredible to watch, a real joy, and while it ended in crushing disappointment, it shouldn't be forgotten.
Carmelo Anthony: Melo ... what a season. The best defensive season I've seen from him, despite the Knicks taking a step backwards. The most efficient season I've seen from him in New York. And from November through December and in the month of April, there wasn't a substantially better player on the planet.
But those other months existed. Some of it was injury. Some of it was just the grind. I can say that Melo wasn't efficient enough to be considered elite for MVP consideration. I can marvel at his strength in rebounding and attacking, and still understand there were greater players this season.
It's an honor to say Anthony was in the MVP conversation this season, not an insult to say he's not a leading candidate.
Tim Duncan: Did you know Tim Duncan leads the league in defensive rating? Or that he's third in blocks per game? Or Sixth in PER? Or third in defensive rebound percentage? How about that he was more active than he's been in years, at age 36, on both sides of the ball? Or that the Spurs won 55-plus games for yet another year?
There was no discussion in San Antonio of a special medical treatment. No heartfelt interview with Duncan about how he recommitted himself. He just put in the work to get in shape, got healthy, and destroyed the league. That's it. It's self-evident, as his game has always been.
If Kobe Bryant feels superhuman for what he did at his age, then Tim Duncan is the robotic clockwork monolith, never blinking, and always staring at this NBA world with the knowledge of everything.
Or something. Anyway, he was really good.
Tony Parker: Parker had another magnificent season. He flirted with a top-three spot from time to time, both in the perception of media and on this list. Parker is what makes the Spurs offense so good.
But the Spurs offense is also what makes Parker so good. It's a symbiotic relationship and part of what makes the Spurs greater than the sum of their parts. But it hurts him in this conversation. But I do want to point out that this was maybe Tony Parker's best defensive season . His containment was legitimately great and his closeouts were better than ever. He deserves credit for that.
James Harden: You don't have to reach especially hard to find an argument that suggests that Harden was the best shooting guard in the land, that he was better than Kobe this season. But the problem comes when you factor pace. Harden averaged the same number of assists (5.6 per 36 minutes) as Bryant and only slighly fewer rebounds per 36. But the Rockets played at a blistering pace. Bryant's assist percentage (29.5) was substantially stronger than Harden's still-high one (26.1). And Bryant maintained the edge in rebound rate, too, at 7.9 percent to Harden's 7.2. Really, Harden was just a better shooter, and much of that gap is created by his uncanny ability to draw fouls.
Harden had a terrific year, but for as bad as Bryant's defense was, he was still better on-ball and off than Harden. That's what puts Harden here. But Harden's accomplishments with the Rockets should not be diminished in anyway.
Baseline Awards MVP final ballot:
1. LeBron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Chris Paul
4. Kobe Bryant
5. Carmelo Anthony
6. Tim Duncan
7. Tony Parker
8. James Harden
9. Russell Westbrook
10. Marc Gasol
Actual final vote tally prediction:
1. LeBron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Carmelo Anthony
4. Kobe Bryant
5. James Harden
6. Tony Parker
7. Chris Paul
8. Tim Duncan
9. Dwyane Wade
10. Steph Curry
