How LeBron James’ Winning the 2015 NBA Finals MVP Is A Given
The 2015 NBA Finals has been a showcase for perhaps the greatest individual performance in history courtesy of LeBron James. As blasphemous as it may sound to NBA historians and purists, history itself has a compelling case to support LeBron as the NBA Finals MVP even if the Cleveland Cavaliers lose the series versus the Golden State Warriors.
His NBA Finals averages in five games are monstrous:
36.6 points, 12.4 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 1.2 steals on 45.6 minutes per game.
No one has done more for his team than James has for the Cavaliers. Even the game’s greatest players who had spectacular NBA Finals series’ have not come close to what James has been doing in the past five games. This Cavs’ team has been labeled one of the worst Finals cast in history with its players (other than LeBron and the slightly above average Tristan Thompson) below the league average in playoffs PER.
Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, and Dwyane Wade have had some of the finest performances in NBA Finals history. But none of those performances compares to the singular greatness of James’ 2015 NBA Finals campaign. All of those players I mentioned, by the way, won the Finals MVP.
Jerry West, first and only player to win Finals MVP on losing team
One of the game’s all-time great guards, West gave it his all in 1969 as he played a series for the ages averaging 37.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 7.4 assists en route to claiming the very first NBA Finals MVP Award.
[West claimed the award] despite strong performances from John Havlicek, Sam Jones, and Bill Russell.
The series went seven games but Russell and company would not be denied their last championship of the decade. Still, West was so phenomenal in the series to be overlooked by the voters as the L.A. Lakers would be denied the trophy once more by the Boston Celtics.
It was the only time a player for the losing team won the award. He did this despite strong performances from John Havlicek, Sam Jones, and Bill Russell.
If West deserved it then, James deserves to win even more now.
Michael Jordan wasn’t a unanimous MVP in the 1996 NBA Finals
As great as Michael Jordan’s performances have been in the Finals, there was one series where his selection as the Finals MVP wasn’t clear-cut—the 1996 series versus the Seattle Supersonics.
That series was a coming of age for the Sonics’ Shawn Kemp who was virtually unstoppable. He was the most consistent player in the Finals even more so than Jordan who put up pedestrian Air Jordan numbers of 27.3 pts, 5.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.7 steals Good but not great numbers for the greatest of all time. Kemp averaged 23.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.3 steals, and 2.0 blocks versus the mighty Chicago Bulls and was second to MJ in Finals MVP voting.
So unconvinced were some of the members of the voting committee of Jordan’s pre-eminence that even his teammate, Dennis Rodman, received MVP votes
So unconvinced were some of the members of the voting committee of Jordan’s pre-eminence that even his teammate, Dennis Rodman, received MVP votes for his strong performance throughout the series. Of the 11 votes cast, six went to Jordan, three for Kemp and two for Rodman.
This means that five members of the panel realized that Jordan wasn’t at his best during the ’96 Finals.
If the 2015 Warriors win the championship, the same can be said about Stephen Curry who’s averaging 26.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.6 steals on the strength of only one MVP-type game while LeBron has four out of five. Of course, a Game 6 or possibly Game 7 other-worldly performance can do wonders for a player’s chances. But what if LeBron does the same in one or both games even in defeat?
If Kemp, whose performance is not even close to LeBron’s, can get three votes, then James deserves at least one more vote than him.
The 2015 NBA Finals voting
In the 2015 NBA Finals, the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award may be decided by a panel of nine media members, unless the NBA again chooses to let fans be the tenth member. If Kemp, whose performance is not even close to LeBron’s, can get three votes, then James deserves at least one more vote than him. That’s four votes minimum. Should James garner four while Curry and fellow potential Finals MVP-candidate Andre Iguodala split the remaining five votes, then LeBron will go home with the Finals MVP Award.
Conclusion
The 2015 NBA Finals are far from over. There’s still at least one more game to be played and who knows how Stephen Curry and LeBron James will play in this game. Whether it’s one game or two, regardless of who wins a Game 7 should it come to that, LeBron deserves to be named the NBA Finals MVP if he continues to play at an elite level.
I polled 50 league execs & coaches from the other 28 teams asking if @KingJames should be MVP even if Cavs lose. 31 said Yes, 19 said No.
— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) June 16, 2015
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There are a majority of people from the media, the coaches, and league executives who believe that right now, James should win the award even if the Cavs lose. So unless things change dramatically in tonight’s game or in a possible seventh game, LeBron James will be named the NBA Finals MVP regardless of the series outcome.
And why not? No one in history has done more and no one in history deserves it more.
Does LeBron James deserve the Finals MVP Award even if his team loses?