Fast Break Article 3/8/13 - Who Will Win the 2013 MVP Race
03/08/2013 19:51Now that Tony Parker is injured, I believe there are 3 nominees for the MVP. Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, and Lebron James are my choices for the MVP.
A lot of people argue Kobe should be in this race. Kobe has Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol, and Mike D’Antoni, yet he can barely make the playoffs (He might not make the playoffs actually). An MVP can play with anyone and still dominate.
To narrow this race down to 2 players, I will take off one player from the three. Lebron makes it with ease. Now it’s between Durant and Carmelo.
Durant beats Carmelo in stats. Durant leads the league in points and averages more rebounds and assists than Carmelo.
Now let’s look at the leadership side of them. Being a leader means they can play with anyone. Durant has been able to average larger stats than Carmelo while playing with Westbrook (A scoring point guard who can be a ball hog). Carmelo has trouble playing Amare while they are both on the court.
Finally, let’s look at the winning side of the debate. The Knicks and Thunder both have possible Defensive Player of the Year Award winners, great scorers, a great bench, and great fans. Still, the Thunder post a better record with a tougher schedule (Thunder have 3rd best RPI and Knicks have the 7th best RPI). I think Lebron and Durant are the true MVP candidates this year.
I believe Lebron wins the statistical side of the debate. He had the insane run of 60% shooting from the field and 30 points in the game. Lebron is only 1 point away from beating Durant in the scoring aspect, and he beats Durant in APG and TRB a game category. Lebron is also a much better defender than Durant.
Lebron and Durant tie for being great leaders. They both have to share the ball with stars, but still average great stats. Lebron and Durant also shoot the ball at the very end of the game to win/tie (Durant always shoots unless Westbrook ball hogs the ball or the Thunder make a poor choice).
The winning side of the debate is hard to depict. Lebron has a better record, but also has more star players. Lebron and the Heat almost always beat Thunder (In the Finals and this regular season).
What it comes down to is this: If Durant played for the Heat and Lebron played for the Thunder, would their records change? I KNOW that if Lebron played for the Thunder, OKC’s defense would immediately rise. Westbrook (Great defender), Thabo (Great defender), Lebron (Great defender), and Ibaka (Possible Defensive Player of the Year Award winner) would be unbreakable on defense. The Thunder’s winning I believe would rise too. They would have the same amount of scoring (Durant only averages 1 point more than Lebron), more rebounds, more distribution, and better defense.
Durant on the Heat would lead to less turnovers caused on defense (Durant has so-so defense), less rebounds, less big men (The Heat cannot afford to lose a big man since they are already a small team), and less winning. Teams would kill the Heat down-low on defense and Durant’s mediocre defense would hurt their defense.
As you can see, Lebron would be able to dominate and win with any team. Therefore, I believe Lebron SHOULD win the MVP (I’m not saying will, because a lot of voters will choose Durant for a stupid reason: Well Lebron has 3 MVP’s so let’s give Durant at least one).