Battle Of The Acronyms
Posted by SK, April 19, 2008 - 12:27 pm
KG. CP3. KB24. LBJ. We really love to acronymize our athletes. But only one acronym matters for the purpose of this article: MVP.
So who wins it? All four have had seasons worthy of the award, and would have run away with it in any other year. It’s fitting that the most exciting finish in the Association’s recent memory should yield one of the most exciting MVP races. The last one I remember being this close was in the early 90’s, when Jordan, Barkley, and Olajuwon were all in their prime. So how am I determining my (imaginary) vote?
LeBron James averaged 30 points per game, 7.9 rebounds and 7.2 assists. The Cavaliers are a lottery-bound team without him, but with him they’re the 4 seed in the East. And he’s just 24. In fact, he sat out a couple games last week because of back pains because HE’S STILL GROWING! He’s going to dominate this league for years to come, but he’s not winning MVP this year.
Kobe Bryant? This year he averaged 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.4 assists. Statistically, that’s actually a worse season than the past two, when he also singlehandedly led an otherwise lottery-bound team to the playoffs. And yet he never got higher than fourth in MVP balloting in either of the past two years. Kobe suffers from Barry Bonds syndrome. To the voters, his accomplishments on the court are diminished by the fact that he’s a drama queen primadonna, an asshole to his teammates and the media, and an accused rapist. The voters won’t forget that before the season, he wanted to be traded from this team he “led” to the #1 seed in the West. So he’s not winning it.
Chris Paul had a season for the ages for a point guard. In fact, at 21.1 points and 11.6 assists, he’s had a better season than Steve Nash the both times that Nash won the award. He’s been called the savior of basketball in New Orleans, leading the Hornets from 39 wins a year ago to 56 wins this year. He turned David West into an All-Star and helped turn Byron Scott into a Coach of the Year candidate. The fans love him, his teammates love him, and the media loves him. I wouldn’t be surpised if Paul does win MVP this year. But he doesn’t get my (imaginary) vote.
No, my (imaginary) vote goes to Kevin Garnett. At 18.8 points and 9.2 rebounds, he’s had a decent year. But his stats aren’t the reason. First, he satisfies the whole “best player on the best team” argument. And the Celtics just haven’t been winning, they’ve been steamrolling through the regular season this year, winning by an average of 10.2 points per game. Second, and most importantly, the Celtics went from 24 wins to 66 in one year. And some may argue that it’s not all him, and that he plays with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Now, Pierce was already there (on the 24-win team) but I would argue that the whole reason other veteran free agents wanted to play in Boston in the first place was because of KG. So just like back in 2004, I’m saying that Garnett hoists the MVP trophy.
My (imaginary) votes for the other NBA awards:
Rookie: Kevin Durant
Coach: Byron Scott
6th Man: Manu Ginobili
Most Improved: Hedo Turkoglu
Defensive Player: Marcus Camby
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I think I agree with you. This year is not about stats or LBJ or CP3 will win it. KG turned an entire franchise around.
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