2014-2015 NBA MVP Discussion

[old rem]

curry winning mvp will just prove how useless the award has become. Derrick rose mvp 2.0.

yeah because a guy averaging 23.6ppg, 4.7rpg. 7apg & 2.1spg on the best team in the West (by a significant margin over nearest MVP competitor) is not justifiable at all.

It would be much more deserving than the Rose mvp. That was one of the weakest MVPs in recent years. Curry has been playing quite well but the one thing which helps Harden is that he has nowhere near the level of teammates. He is truly carrying his team similar to what LBJ did. The media loves a good story like that.

Well... if "not such a good team" is a PLUS...then Anthony Davis is in a dead heat for it. I go with Curry as the key guy on the best team. How is a guy Most Valuable yet does not get you at least CLOSE to the top?

[LeChosen One]

Harden is the MVP right now, easily in my opinion.. Curry isn't carrying his team

Look for LeBron to make a run though

[olive_triangurl]

mvp has really lost it's value. It used to be the player who was most valuable, or a player which a team needed almost every minute, every game. Guess its been the best player on the best team, how sad.

Its always been that way, generally speaking (except for the cases when the team with the best record doesn't have a dominant player).
Why do you think Jordan didn't win MVP in 1992-93?
He was clearly better than Barkley, but Phoenix had a better record than Chicago.

[olive_triangurl]

Harden is the MVP right now, easily in my opinion.. Curry isn't carrying his team

Look for LeBron to make a run though

Make a run at what, 3rd place?

[LeChosen One]

Harden is the MVP right now, easily in my opinion.. Curry isn't carrying his team

Look for LeBron to make a run though

Make a run at what, 3rd place?

Keep hating

[olive_triangurl]

Harden is the MVP right now, easily in my opinion.. Curry isn't carrying his team

Look for LeBron to make a run though

Make a run at what, 3rd place?

Keep hating

Just being realistic - how is it possible for him to reach Harden or Curry?
3rd place at best.

[JulesWinnfield]

The 2 week plus break is just a major hurdle for Lebron in the context of the MVP vote, even though it was the right thing to do big picture. The fact that the team was so deplorable during that time without him, as well as his cartoonish on/off numbers, demonstrate his value to that team......And by years end, I think his individual level of play will easily rival if not surpass the seasons authored by Curry or Harden. But that's 20% of this current season to date where he offered zero value to his team. In order to make up for it he would need to be *decisively* better than the field. And that's assuming he misses no more time, when it's likely a safe bet he gets some maintenance days late in the year and may finish under 70 games played.... Tough to see him vaulting curry or harden if those guys stay healthy and on course.

[Doctor MJ]

The 2 week plus break is just a major hurdle for Lebron in the context of the MVP vote, even though it was the right thing to do big picture. The fact that the team was so deplorable during that time without him, as well as his cartoonish on/off numbers, demonstrate his value to that team......And by years end, I think his individual level of play will easily rival if not surpass the seasons authored by Curry or Harden. But that's 20% of this current season to date where he offered zero value to his team. In order to make up for it he would need to be *decisively* better than the field. And that's assuming he misses no more time, when it's likely a safe bet he gets some maintenance days late in the year and may finish under 70 games played.... Tough to see him vaulting curry or harden if those guys stay healthy and on course.

Yup, exactly. That PLUS the fact that LeBron already has 4 MVPs during which he was seen as being considerably more consistent than his play this year means that LeBron's only going to become a serious MVP candidate if no one else seems worthy.

On the other side of the spectrum, it's the same for Anthony Davis. I see people here and there mention Davis as the guy who may be the true MVP, but I don't get the impression that most voters will seriously consider him for the top spot if there are other worthy candidates.

Both LeBron & Davis will get lower MVP votes and could easily finish in the Top 5, but actually winning the MVP is very unlikely.

[olive_triangurl]

This was LeBron's big chance for MVP, because voters could have used the logic "Look at how many more games Cleveland won since LeBron arrived", whereas next year they can't use that logic.
And next year Harden and Curry and Wall will move closer to their prime level, while LeBron will decline further or stay the same.

And LeBron's current level is no better than Harden.
Harden: 27.4ppg 6.8apg 5.7rpg 2.0spg 0.8bpg .455fg .383treys
LeBron: 25.9ppg 7.3apg 5.6rpg 1.5spg 0.7bpg .489fg .333treys

And I shudder to think what will happen if Golden State add a dominant center or power forward, I suspect 65 wins and another MVP for Curry.
The next few years look like all Harden and Curry.
Plus there is the factor of how dominant Irving will become.

[Doctor MJ]

mvp has really lost it's value. It used to be the player who was most valuable, or a player which a team needed almost every minute, every game. Guess its been the best player on the best team, how sad.

Its always been that way, generally speaking (except for the cases when the team with the best record doesn't have a dominant player).
Why do you think Jordan didn't win MVP in 1992-93?
He was clearly better than Barkley, but Phoenix had a better record than Chicago.

You're totally right on the general point but I have to say for posterity:

It was not seen as clear cut that Jordan was better than Barkley at that time. The two had played together on the Dream Team the previous summer and Barkley had been BY FAR the better player there, then Barkley went to a new team and they became totally dominant (the team won 62 wins despite coasting toward the end).

The question on everyone's mind at that point was whether had indeed surpassed Jordan. The typical answer was that the playoffs would tell for sure, and Jordan's play in the playoffs cemented his status as the indisputable king, but for the regular season MVP, the vote for Barkley wasn't based on some rigid rule of best player on the best team, it was based on Barkley making himself the guy everyone was talking about.

[olive_triangurl]

Jordan dominated the Gold medal game and coasted in all the other games, so I don't include the Olympics as a point.
Jordan complained even before the Olympics began when he said "My greatest concern is.....will I get a chance to relax?" because he was dog tired in those 1992 NBA Finals (he literally looked tired in game 6 vs Portland).
So the Olympics didn't show us that Barkley was as good as Jordan at all.
Also there is Barkley's lack of defensive presence which can't be ignored (unless defensive rebounds make up for it.....).

I never remember anyone saying Barkley was better than Jordan, considering Jordan is in a different universe defensively and clearly a better scorer than Barkley too.
In Barkley's MVP year, Jordan averaged 32.6ppg, while Barkley only averaged 25.6ppg.
That year Jordan also topped Barkley in assists (Jordan 5.5, Barkley 5.1), steals (Jordan 2.8, Barkley 1.6) and trey% (Jordan .352, Barkley .305).

And Barkley's best stats were in Philly anyway, not Phoenix.
His highest scoring (28.3), fg% (.600), rebounds (14.6), steals (2.2) and blocks (1.5) were all in Philly.
The only thing he did better in Phoenix was assists (5.1) because he had more shooters around him.
So Barkley was more famous when he was in Phoenix, but that had less to do with his individual performance and more to do with him playing for a title contender which gets you SERIOUS MVP attention (not Anthony Davis MVP attention).

[Doctor MJ]

Jordan dominated the Gold medal game and coasted in all the other games, so I don't include the Olympics as a point.
Jordan complained even before the Olympics began when he said "My greatest concern is.....will I get a chance to relax?" because he was dog tired in those 1992 NBA Finals (he literally looked tired in game 6 vs Portland).
So the Olympics didn't show us that Barkley was as good as Jordan at all.
Also there is Barkley's lack of defensive presence which can't be ignored (unless defensive rebounds make up for it.....).

I never remember anyone saying Barkley was better than Jordan, considering Jordan is in a different universe defensively and clearly a better scorer than Barkley too.
In Barkley's MVP year, Jordan averaged 32.6ppg, while Barkley only averaged 25.6ppg.
That year Jordan also topped Barkley in assists (Jordan 5.5, Barkley 5.1), steals (Jordan 2.8, Barkley 1.6) and trey% (Jordan .352, Barkley .305).

And Barkley's best stats were in Philly anyway, not Phoenix.
His highest scoring (28.3), fg% (.600), rebounds (14.6), steals (2.2) and blocks (1.5) were all in Philly.
The only thing he did better in Phoenix was assists (5.1) because he had more shooters around him.
So Barkley was more famous when he was in Phoenix, but that had less to do with his individual performance and more to do with him playing for a title contender which gets you SERIOUS MVP attention (not Anthony Davis MVP attention).

Coasted? Jordan was jacking up shots and missing the whole run while everyone else on the team shot insane efficiency.
Quite literally on offense: Jordan was like Iverson or Marbury in 2004, and people just didn't notice because everything else on the team was so damn perfect.

I suppose that doesn't mean he didn't coast, but chucking the ball is an incredibly stupid way to coast.

So look, memories are memories, and I'm not saying that the basketball world all said "Jordan's only the 2nd best player now", but the vibe at the time was not that this was out of nowhere, or that Jordan was being punished in some way. Barkley was the story of that year from the Olympics to April, and even the notoriously grumpy Jordan said he thought Barkley should win the MVP back then.
As such any thought that Barkley's MVP win was some sign of rigid rules to the voters totally misses the context of the time.

[LeChosen One]

Bron putting in another GOAT MVP performance right now

[olive_triangurl]

even the notoriously grumpy Jordan said he thought Barkley should win the MVP back then.
As such any thought that Barkley's MVP win was some sign of rigid rules to the voters totally misses the context of the time.

Jordan was a very happy individual and prone to smiling and joking actually (and especially fond of his very close friend Barkley).
I never said there was a 'rigid rule' to MVP voting - I know there are exceptions, but you know what exceptions those are when you see them (for example Nash completely controlling the Suns offense so he won his 2nd MVP in 2005-06 despite San Antonio, Dallas and Detroit having better records).

[DontH8TheBrody]

Westbrook coming.

[Wonderllama]

1. Curry
2. Lebron
3. Harden
4. Westbrook

That's how I see it... games won and playoff seeding will probably determine the winner

[EArl]

Curry has my vote for MVP this year. He is playing great and so is his team. No one is catching up to them.

[Rastas]

Curry
.
Harden / Lebron
.
.
Westbrook
.
.
whoever

[INKtastic]

The Cavs have been the best team in the league since LeBron returned from injury. Best ORtg, elite defense, best ORtg/DRtg net, best record 15-3 (.833), including 15-2 (.882) since his first game back. They've now climbed to 3rd in the Hollinger power rankings.

http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerrankings

[kaiballz]

#1 curry


#2 ... other people.