So, is it LeBron James or Kevin Durant?
When it comes to picking the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, it’s like my childhood buddies on the blacktop used to demand: “Who you got?”
With no defined criteria, MVP voting is always a personal affair, with each voter left to justify their own particular list of five names and the order they set them down when April 16 rolls around. There are some rough guidelines, of course. The loose definition of the MVP is often “the best player on the best team.” But what do you do in a season like we’re having, where Miami and Oklahoma City are separated by a game-and-a-half and neither claims the top spot in their conference?
It’s a great discussion—and often precisely because the MVP is not always the best player. Heck, if that were the case, Michael Jordan would have won it every year and Shaquille O’Neal—a player that every coach had to make adjustments for—wouldn’t have just one more NBA MVP than me. Where’s the fun in that?
Despite a 27-point, 10-rebound, 12-assist triple-double from Durant on Sunday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder dropped a game to the Los Angeles Lakers to fall out of the top spot in the west. But James’s Heat also seem to be sputtering at the moment, having lost three straight games. (After his 61-point performance last Monday against Charlotte, James totalled just 58 over those three losses.)
Still, the MVP race has been a two-horse affair for a while now, so let’s start splitting hairs when it comes to the real contenders.
With another win this season, James would join Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell as the only players to take home MVP honours in three-straight years. That a vote for James would also mean voting him into such an exclusive club, could very well work against him come April. Especially when you consider that Durant is leading the NBA in scoring and posting rebounding and assist numbers on par with James’s.
“King James” backers will counter those numbers by pointing to LeBron’s offensive efficiency—hoisting fewer shots and converting them at a higher rate than Durant. And with the stats argument at a deadlock, everyone will turn to the head-to-head matchup.
Some will say James made a statement in the last meeting, scoring early and often en route to 33 points in a convincing 103-81 win. But don’t forget, that game just evened the score. Back in late January, it was the Thunder who went to Miami and came away with the W. They did it without Russell Westbrook, and Durant scored—you guessed it—33 points.
So, the numbers are relatively even, the head-to-head is a dead heat and both men have carried their respective teams without their accompanying co-stars. It’s often argued that due to his ability to guard four of the five positions on the floor, James is a more versatile defender and, therefore, a better player than Durant. I’ll lean on the eye test rather than pure numbers but believe me, it’s a fact.
But James also has a higher bar to clear. We have come to expect greatness from him and, because he delivers it so consistently, we’ve even started to take that greatness for granted. Expectations for Durant are also high, but we don’t yet expect the unimaginable from him and that difference in perception could translate into votes.
Could James conceivably get the nod for a third-straight Maurice Podoloff Trophy? Absolutely. But Durant sure seems to have a nose in front at the moment.
The final five weeks of the season will be telling. So, for now, put me alongside those who are still watching and waiting. Oklahoma City has 19 games remaining, while Miami has 22. There is a lot of ball still to be played. Especially when you consider that when this year’s MVP ballots are finally tallied, nothing less than history will be at stake.