LeBron James says no one should fault Kevin Love for his MVP opinion
Four-time MVP says his Cavaliers teammate should not be in trouble for his opinion on an arbitrary award.
By
Matt Moore
•
2 min read
After Kevin Love said on Monday that he would take Russell Westbrook for the MVP over his teammate, LeBron James, naturally, the two were asked about it Tuesday. Love pointed out that he said several players were worthy of the award, and that it only sounded bad if you took it out of context. From ESPN:
"If you choose to get the little three- or four-second clip," Love said, believing his answer was controversial only when taken out of context. "In my whole answer I said LeBron could very well be the MVP. Steph Curry, James Harden -- those are guys that you all talk about. You know very well all of them could be named [MVP]."
via LeBron James of Cleveland Cavaliers doesn't fault teammate Kevin Love for endorsing Russell Westbrook for MVP - ESPN.
James, meanwhile, said he holds no ill will toward Love for the comments.
"I don't really think too much of it, really," James said after Cleveland Cavaliers practice on Tuesday. "I don't really get involved in that. I think the voters are going to decide who is the MVP. I think what Russ has been doing, his numbers have been pretty crazy keeping those guys afloat in the West in his play. Steph Curry can make a case, for sure, what he's been doing -- James Harden and myself, as well. So, Kevin has his own opinion of who he believes is the MVP. No one should fault him for that."
James went on to say that the players should vote on, or at least get a share of the vote for MVP, along with the coaches, and that his game should be judged based on the team's wins, and how the team performs when on vs. off the floor.
For what it's worth, the Cavaliers are 15.8 points per 100 possessions better with James on the floor, the Warriors are 17.1 points per 100 possessions better with Stephen Curry on the court, the Rockets are 11.5 points per 100 possessions better with James Harden, and the Thunder are 7.9 points per 100 possessions better with Westbrook.
James is taking the mature route here, instead of firing back and feeding the story. I mean, in reality, think about what this actually is. "Player X says it's OK for Player Y to feel that Player Z should win an arbitrary award voted on by people neither player believes are qualified to evaluate over Player X." That's a pretty big non-story.
But you do wonder what was said behind closed doors, and how that played out in practice. It's also worth noting that there's significant evidence that Love may be fitting in with the Cavaliers better than it seems. Maybe Love's comments about their friendship could spark a turning point. Maybe this is what they need to get on the same page.
