The Cleveland Cavaliers’ defense has sent the team into a tailspin. LeBron James has likely dropped out of a historically tight MVP race. His team has lost four of their last six.
Though Cleveland Cavaliers small forward LeBron James is still an arguable candidate, it’s a common conception that the MVP is a single player who can put his team on his back and win games. We see those qualities more so in candidates like James Harden and Russell Westbrook.
The Cavs are still winning a lot of games. However, we already expect a spectacular number in the win column from a roster like this though. For LeBron to impress MVP voters, he needs to take the Cavs above and beyond in the regular season.
We just haven’t had that this year.
James is perhaps the most efficient MVP candidate but Harden and Westbrook have been more valuable to their teams.
The Rockets were supposed to have trouble even making the playoffs at the beginning of the season. Now they’ve all but locked up the 3rd seed in the West, and are still rolling. They’re 9-4 in the month of March.
Harden notched four triple-doubles in a row during this stretch.
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Those triple-doubles might be impressive if Westbrook hadn’t already done that three times this season, once reaching a triple-double streak of 7 games. There’s also the fact that he’s averaging a triple-double.
Westbrook has been a folk hero for the Thunder in the wake of losing Kevin Durant. Factor in his sky-high 41.8 percent usage rate and it’s hard to argue that LeBron is a more valuable player.
Meanwhile, in Cleveland, we’re seeing defensive atrocities and the Celtics (temporarily) moving past the Cavs for the top spot in the East with the playoffs around the corner. Isaiah Thomas may even pull in more votes than James if things keep going this way.
An MVP has to be dazzling. Maybe that’s not the way it should be but that’s the way it is.
Considering the stories swarming around the Cavaliers organization about bad defense and slim championship hopes, it seems doubtful that voters have been dazzled by LeBron.
LeBron’s greatness no longer dazzles us through the regular season but it comes in the playoffs.
He’s gearing up for what he hopes is his seventh straight NBA Finals. That’s seven 9-month seasons in a row with an Olympic Gold Medal sprinkled in there somewhere.
His leadership is very valuable. His recent bonding moment with Kyrie Irving is a sign of that.
LeBron’s rest has created controversy but I expect we’ll see the benefits come playoff time; he’s much more interested in chasing rings right now than any regular season accolades.
However, even with 4 MVP trophies already, James still trails Michael Jordan’s total of 5. It seems unlikely he’ll ever be able to snag that 5th one. Still, it may feel worth it if we see the Cavs become championship contenders for years to come.
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