Race to the MVP.

[ShowTimeERA]

Heat are easily the #1 seed without LeBron.

LeBron is still the MVP though.

Easily the #1? Melo does enough damage as it is against Miami WITH LeBron, imagine if they didnt have him to somewhat slow him down.

And the knicks would also be without their best player in Melo. See how that works.

[ShowTimeERA]

Putting up the best stats in the league with 2 other all stars is pretty impressive in its own

Durant's stats are just as impressive with even less help. You need to take everything into context, lets put other superstars in lebrons position and let's watch them flourish as well.

What part of Durants stats are more impressive.... They score about the same with lebron taking less shots on higher efficiency, have identical rebounding numbers, lebron puts out about 3 more assists a game and is in another league defensively.. not to mention Lebron having less turnovers despite playing with the ball an absurd amount more..
Also i feel you completely miss the point as stats are inflated when you don't have help, want do you really think on a team like Cleveland he could have put up 30/7.6/8.5???

Wait are we somehow using stats from previous season's now? Durant is averaging less shots, rebounds more, and equal in assits with Lebron..

[mademan]

Are the Lakers not top 2 in 08 without Kobe (and every other best player)? How about the suns in 06 without Nash? Are the Bulls not the best team in the league every year without every teams best player? MJ still got 5 MVP's.

[NYK_89]

Durant's stats are just as impressive with even less help. You need to take everything into context, lets put other superstars in lebrons position and let's watch them flourish as well.

What part of Durants stats are more impressive.... They score about the same with lebron taking less shots on higher efficiency, have identical rebounding numbers, lebron puts out about 3 more assists a game and is in another league defensively.. not to mention Lebron having less turnovers despite playing with the ball an absurd amount more..
Also i feel you completely miss the point as stats are inflated when you don't have help, want do you really think on a team like Cleveland he could have put up 30/7.6/8.5???

Wait are we somehow using stats from previous season's now? Durant is averaging less shots, rebounds more, and equal in assits with Lebron..

What on earth if we aren't you are advocating a player on a 500 team, not to mention that Lebron has almost identical stats sitting out the 4th quarter in 3 of the 5 games they have played

[ClayDavis]

in the western conference so far its easily mike brown. mvp of the western conference.

[420]

in the western conference so far its easily mike brown. mvp of the western conference.

And DPOY with his Princeton offense.

[jayjamesson]

Lebron sitting a whole quarter + rest minutes. Stat's don't talk the walk this soon in the season. Miami is blowing out teams like It's nothing when they want to play and not coast.

[MrBigShot]

Word. It feels like when the Celtics started off 27-2 a couple seasons ago or the 05-06 Pistons 24-3. It's too easy for them.

[HurricaneKid]

Durant is avg 5 TOs/gm. That would break records. And he isn't even getting heavy usage. He isn't in the top 20 in PER, Off RTG, WS, or anything really. I mean I still expect him to come around and be one of the 3 players that could win it (LBJ, CP3, and KD), but so far he isn't close.

[GoNYK1288]

I dig the concept of this thread, which it seems that some misunderstand. This thread is not a prediction of who WILL win, but tracking who WOULD win if the voting were held today. Given that no team has played more than 5 games, it's obviously impossible to know whether current MVPs can sustain their level of play, but it's interesting to track it as the season goes on.

[BIG THREE]

LeBron is the great player to ever live, easy choice as the MVP. Only other player who could win it is KD. But that would be a long shot.

[420]

LeBron is the great player to ever live, easy choice as the MVP. Only other player who could win it is KD. But that would be a long shot.

Personally, I'll wait for his career to play out before drawing a conclusion. IMO, it'll take 7 titles to surpass Jordan. Not even 6. Even then, you can make an argument that Jordan was still better.

I say this as a guy who really hopes to see LBJ accomplish that feat.

[WinisKing]

LeBron is the great player to ever live, easy choice as the MVP. Only other player who could win it is KD. But that would be a long shot.

Greatest player in the game TODAY, his potential legacy is top 5, not surpassing Jordan

[TheGarden]

LeBron is the great player to ever live, easy choice as the MVP. Only other player who could win it is KD. But that would be a long shot.

what? NO, stop it really

The MVP can be won by anyone dont let the NBA or media destroy your brain with this James and Durant rivalry they're trying to build, its getting to the point where people are actually starting to lose interest in the NBA because they're pushing 2 guys and no else seems to matter

[NBA4EVA2010]

Lebron will have (and is already having) a bad season statistically. Don't get me wrong, he's at his prime, but his numbers will go WAAAAY down from last season

Is this post serious? Have you seen lebron numbers and the amount of playing time he's doing this in? He's coasting and not even playing 4th qtrs and still putting up

22 pts

10 rbs

6 ast

.551 FG%

.571 3pt%

in only 33 minutes of play!!!!!!

[NBA4EVA2010]

Which team as currently constructed without their best player is still a championship team?

clearly not the heat

[An Unbiased Fan]

As usual, the MVP will likely be from a Top 5 team, be All-NBA 1st caliber, and have a good narrative.

-Lebron will be up there.
-Durant is a question mark because he defers too much to Westbrook to be MVP, IMO. At some point he needs to lead.
-Kobe is on pace to be the only 35 year old to score 25+ ppg on 60%+ TS, but LA has to start winning
-Harden was #1, but has comeback to Earth
-Melo will have NY media hyping him, but I have doubts about the Knicks.
-Chris Paul is another guy in the mix

[smha201]

I don't understand why Anthony's name being mentioned that much. Yes, the Knicks are off to an awesome start, but if you take a look at Anthony's numbers, they're pretty average for him, and efficiency wise, he had much better seasons. It's pretty clear the Knicks good start comes from 2 things, ball movement, and defense. I would argue he doesn't even have the biggest impact on their defense. On the other end, it's obviously can't even be argued. I just don't see it, even if they, let's say, they win 58 games. Durant and Chris Paul are just much better, more impactful players, so even if they don't give it to Lebron, i would be extremely shocked if Anthony gets it.

Have you watched the games? Carmelo has been great - great - on both sides of the floor. We already know how he is offensively, but his defense has been more than even just 'good' - he has blocks and steals here and there but he is battling down low and contesting all shots. Even LeBron discovered that; Melo held up strong against him and forced him to chuck up ugly shots more than a few times.

I don't get the sense you've watched the games.

[TheGarden]

From this thread I see guys are proving my point that its the best stats award

we got things like

-LeBron is only playing 33 minutes, his numbers should be higher
-Durant is 4th in rebounding yet his team hasn't been great
-Carmelo is averaging 26 and 7.3 with a 25.5 PER and his team is undefeated yet thats not good enough to be in the conversation

come on dudes I know we can have a better debate than this

[cb4_89]

How about we wait at least 30 games to have this "conversation"? If Melo is averaging those numbers and the knicks are like 25-5 after 30 games, he can be in the conversation. Same goes for anyone else having a great year right now (looking at you Harden).