LeBron James Quietly Having MVP-Type Season

LeBron James has been the best player in the world for years. This year, however, he isn’t getting much love.

Throughout his entire career, every NBA story has started and finished with LeBron James. He has been the measuring stick for years and which ever team LeBron has been on is always a championship contender.

This season though, times are changing. In the 2015/16 NBA landscape, James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have lost their place as the measuring stick, as Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors have taken claim of that title, due to their sensational 24-1 start to the season.

For the first time in his career, LeBron is seemingly getting the San Antonio Spurs treatment, as the public basketball eye has been so caught up in the Warriors history making start to the season, that the greatness of James’ play this season has been overlooked and underappreciated.

If you look at the stat line of 26.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game all while shooting 50.1% from the field, that player would be leading the MVP race every year. There would be little to no argument.

Although, when those numbers belong to LeBron, for some reason they become less impressive. The public has become so used to the greatness of LeBron’s game, his numbers simply aren’t as impressive as Curry’s 45.8% 3-point shooting percentage and Curry’s awe-inspiring ability to change a game in the matter of two minutes.

We have become so accustomed to the enormity LeBron’s performances that a stat line of 25 points and eight assists on 10-of-15 shooting, such the game James had against the Orlando Magic, just doesn’t have the same eye-popping effect it used to. Great players like LeBron are expected to play at an elite level on a nightly basis, it’s almost become a predetermined expectation and when LeBron has a performance below his out-worldly expectations, it makes news.

The NBA is always on the lookout for something new and exciting and they’ve found that in Curry and the Warriors. It isn’t absurd to suggest that Curry has overtaken James as the best player in the game. Many share that opinion, as Curry has captured the minds of millions due to his unique and un-guardable play style. In fact, Curry has captured the minds of the basketball world just like LeBron did when he entered the league back in 2003.

Although, while Curry and Golden State continue to dominant, LeBron is quietly having a MVP-type season, even by his standards.

The aforementioned per-game numbers for James are simply unbelievable. His innate ability to impact the game in multiple ways in every different aspect of the game is something no one in the world, not even Curry, can match. When we take a look at James’ per game numbers per 100 possessions, they become even more impressive. LeBron is averaging 36.4 points, 10.7 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 2.0 steals and just under a block (0.9) per 100 possessions, numbers that are simply ridiculous and MVP worthy in any era.

If the MVP award is handed out by its namesake- the Most Valuable Player- than James is head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. The Cavs numbers when LeBron is on and off the court are pretty telling. With James on the court, the Cavaliers offensive efficiency (points scored per 100 possessions) is 109.4, which would place them 2^nd in the entire league. When LeBron sits, that number takes a huge hike down to 93.9, which would place Cleveland 29^th in the league. Some people argue that LeBron doesn’t take over games on offense anymore but that statement is completely false, as the Cavaliers offensive numbers with James on and off the court tell the true story.

LeBron still has the ability to have his way on offense- he proved that against the Magic when he went 8-from-9 from the field in the first half, with all nine attempts coming from inside the paint. James prides himself on shooting above 50% from the field every game and when he uses his brute force to get into the pain and get easy shots at the basket, there will be plenty more above 50% shooting games to come.

On defense, the impact that LeBron makes is just as big, if not greater. When James is on the court, the Cavs defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) is 96.7, good for 2^nd in the entire league. Like the offensive efficiency though, when LeBron sits, that numbers drops off a hill, as the Cavs defensive efficiency goes to 108.2, which would give them the 28^th best mark in the league. The saying defense wins championships is as cliché as they come but that saying is probably the truest in the NBA and when James isn’t on the court for the Cavs, the defense completely disappears.

When breaking down LeBron’s individual defensive stats, it makes sense that Cleveland is a considerably better defensive team with him on the court. Opponents are shooting only 31.5% when LeBron is the primarily defender, which is 12.1% less than their average. On three point shots, opposition players are shooting 10.6% less than their average when guarded by James and they also shot 10.2% less than their average on two-point shots when guarded by James. LeBron also still has the basketball IQ to read passing lanes and jump on poor passes from the opposing team and his athleticism will always allow him to fly for some highlight-reel blocks.

When digging deeper into James’ advanced stats, his sensational season so far becomes even more impressive. LeBron ranks highly on numerous advanced stat categories and while LeBron passes the eye-test and box score test every time he steps on the court, these analytics add even more evidence (sorry Charles Barkley) on how amazing LeBron’s season has truly been so far.

LeBron has a PER of 27.4, which is good for 4^th in the entire league. PER (Player Efficiency Rating) is a common number used to measure how productive a player is when he is on the court. The explanation can be found here. LeBron’s usage rate is 32.9%, which is 7^th in the league (4^th in the league, if you remove Shayne Whittington, Steve Novak and Bruno Caboclo from the top 7), which further proves how good LeBron’s PER is. For a player to be used that much on his team and still perform at such an efficient rate is something only the leagues greats can do and LeBron is right in that group.

Win shares is a category that ranks players on the impact they have on winning and losing ball games. That is explained in full here. For LeBron, as most things, he is near the top of the league in win share categories. He is 6^th in the league for win shares with 3.8, 6^th in the league in win shares per 48 minutes with .235 and 7^th in the league in offensive win shares with 2.6. James’ importance to Cleveland winning and having success is un-measureable, but win shares is a nice way to indicate how LeBron is still having a MVP-type season.

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Another stat where James is in elite level is box plus/minus, which isn’t the tradition plus/minus numbers you see in the box score. According to Daniel Myers, the creator of the stat, “BPM relies on a player’s box score information and the team’s overall performance to estimate a player’s performance relative to league average. BPM is a per-100-possession stat, the same scale as Adjusted Plus/Minus: 0.0 is league average, +5 means the player is 5 points better than an average player over 100 possessions (which is about All-NBA level), -2 is replacement level, and -5 is really bad.”

LeBron has a BPM of 8.6 this season, an incredible number that puts up 5^th in the league and he is also 5^th in offensive BPM with 6.5. Those numbers put LeBron in the MVP category of the league and another category that puts him in that group is VORP (Value Over Replacement Player), where James ranks 5^th in the entire league, which proves how no one player can simply come into a team and match the production of LeBron.

Whether it is through advanced stats, box score stats or simply the eye test, LeBron is playing at an MVP level this season and amazingly, that fact is simply flying under the radar.