2008 MVP Politics in the NBA

[billysan]

The front page of Celtics Blog showed a nice article today about GM picks for 2008. (thanx Jeff) I want to focus on the MVP picks. In first place by a large margin was Lebron James. Second Place at 30 something percent was Kobe Bryant. Bring up third at an abyssmal 7 percent was Chris Paul.

Clearly no one stands a chance against Lebron James. No matter how many we win, no matter who we beat, Lebron is the darling of the NBA. He has a PR machine second only to Barry H. Obama.

Sad facts are, Paul Pierce outplays him, Garnett clearly more important to his team and yet, there stands Lebron flanked by Kobe in the distance. Makes me sick.

[mjohnson]

There's no politics or any hidden agenda here.

King LBJ is clearly the top player for 2008 MVP.

Here's Hollinger's Analysis (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-ClevelandPreview0809)

Team Strength: King James
Sorry, Kobe fans, but LeBron James is the best player in the league, and it isn't even close. And in addition to being a force of nature who is a nightly triple-double threat, James has the added advantage of being virtually indestructible.

This is Cleveland's one huge advantage. They're basically a 24-58 team, except that they have the greatest player in the world, and in a seven-game series that advantage becomes hugely magnified because they can play him virtually every minute of every important game.

Take a look at that Boston series again, for instance. In the last four games James played 44, 45, 47 and 47 minutes, and the Cavs beat Boston by a composite six points in that time; in the nine minutes he sat out the Cavs were outscored 22-12. That's consistent with his massive on-court versus off-court disparities over the past few seasons; last year the Cavs were 11.1 points per 48 minutes better with James on the floor.

Because these were the playoffs, he was on the bench for a total of only nine minutes in those four games against Boston ... in the regular season it would have been more like 32. Those extra minutes where LeBron is on the court instead of somebody like Sasha Pavlovic or Wally Szczerbiak are the reason that Cleveland is such a scary team to face in the postseason -- any time they get into a must-win game, James can play all 48 minutes, so the playoff Cavs are markedly stronger than the regular-season Cavs.

He said that Cleveland is a 24-58 team without LBJ.
I also noticed in his analysis, only the Cavs team had a team strength of ONE PERSON. (Boston's Team Strength = Team work).

In this season 2008-09, Kobe will get Bynum and Gasol in his side. Chris Paul got a more complete team with Posey, Peja, West and Chandler.
All teammates mentioned were still on their peaks while King James' teammate only got Ilgauskas and Wallace who were both degrading All-Stars.

The addition of Mo Williams doesn't reduce the MVP of King James since its just one scorer side-kick when compared to other MVP candidates teammates.


About Boston's MVP, it should not be disputed who's the MVP of this team except to Pierce exceptional Finals stint. Boston got BIG 3 and 2 all-star level Starters. If MVP awards can be shared by 5 persons then let the players from Boston have this MVP award. Hollinger also stated that Boston's Strength comes from team work. This fuels our defense. This shows how good our chemistry is. This shows why Boston defeated LBJ's team in the semis and MVP 2007 KB24 in the Finals.

[Kwhit10]

He's the overwhelming favorite because he is the overwhelming best player in the NBA you can't deny that.

[crownsy]

The front page of Celtics Blog showed a nice article today about GM picks for 2008. (thanx Jeff) I want to focus on the MVP picks. In first place by a large margin was Lebron James. Second Place at 30 something percent was Kobe Bryant. Bring up third at an abyssmal 7 percent was Chris Paul.

Clearly no one stands a chance against Lebron James. No matter how many we win, no matter who we beat, Lebron is the darling of the NBA. He has a PR machine second only to Barry H. Obama.

Sad facts are, Paul Pierce outplays him, Garnett clearly more important to his team and yet, there stands Lebron flanked by Kobe in the distance. Makes me sick.

no way is KG or paul more important to his team than lebron. with one of them gone, we would be good, not elite or championship contenders to be sure, but good. probley like a 45-50 win team who goes to the seconed round.

without LBJ, the cavs are a bunch of scrub shooting gaurds and 2 decent big men. they would battle for the basement in the east.


the only poloticking i see is the CP3 snub for such a low percentage, and i think thats more of a "we're not giving it to a kid THAT young" snub.

[Edgar]

The front page of Celtics Blog showed a nice article today about GM picks for 2008. (thanx Jeff) I want to focus on the MVP picks. In first place by a large margin was Lebron James. Second Place at 30 something percent was Kobe Bryant. Bring up third at an abyssmal 7 percent was Chris Paul.

Clearly no one stands a chance against Lebron James. No matter how many we win, no matter who we beat, Lebron is the darling of the NBA. He has a PR machine second only to Barry H. Obama.

Sad facts are, Paul Pierce outplays him, Garnett clearly more important to his team and yet, there stands Lebron flanked by Kobe in the distance. Makes me sick.

no way is KG or paul more important to his team than lebron. with one of them gone, we would be good, not elite or championship contenders to be sure, but good. probley like a 45-50 win team who goes to the seconed round.

without LBJ, the cavs are a bunch of scrub shooting gaurds and 2 decent big men. they would battle for the basement in the east.


the only poloticking i see is the CP3 snub for such a low percentage, and i think thats more of a "we're not giving it to a kid THAT young" snub.

You probably forgot Delonte West
so I am not going to be mad at you.

[billysan]

There's no politics or any hidden agenda here.

King LBJ is clearly the top player for 2008 MVP.

Here's Hollinger's Analysis (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-ClevelandPreview0809)

Team Strength: King James
Sorry, Kobe fans, but LeBron James is the best player in the league, and it isn't even close. And in addition to being a force of nature who is a nightly triple-double threat, James has the added advantage of being virtually indestructible.

This is Cleveland's one huge advantage. They're basically a 24-58 team, except that they have the greatest player in the world, and in a seven-game series that advantage becomes hugely magnified because they can play him virtually every minute of every important game.

Take a look at that Boston series again, for instance. In the last four games James played 44, 45, 47 and 47 minutes, and the Cavs beat Boston by a composite six points in that time; in the nine minutes he sat out the Cavs were outscored 22-12. That's consistent with his massive on-court versus off-court disparities over the past few seasons; last year the Cavs were 11.1 points per 48 minutes better with James on the floor.

Because these were the playoffs, he was on the bench for a total of only nine minutes in those four games against Boston ... in the regular season it would have been more like 32. Those extra minutes where LeBron is on the court instead of somebody like Sasha Pavlovic or Wally Szczerbiak are the reason that Cleveland is such a scary team to face in the postseason -- any time they get into a must-win game, James can play all 48 minutes, so the playoff Cavs are markedly stronger than the regular-season Cavs.

He said that Cleveland is a 24-58 team without LBJ.
I also noticed in his analysis, only the Cavs team had a team strength of ONE PERSON. (Boston's Team Strength = Team work).

In this season 2008-09, Kobe will get Bynum and Gasol in his side. Chris Paul got a more complete team with Posey, Peja, West and Chandler.
All teammates mentioned were still on their peaks while King James' teammate only got Ilgauskas and Wallace who were both degrading All-Stars.

The addition of Mo Williams doesn't reduce the MVP of King James since its just one scorer side-kick when compared to other MVP candidates teammates.


About Boston's MVP, it should not be disputed who's the MVP of this team except to Pierce exceptional Finals stint. Boston got BIG 3 and 2 all-star level Starters. If MVP awards can be shared by 5 persons then let the players from Boston have this MVP award. Hollinger also stated that Boston's Strength comes from team work. This fuels our defense. This shows how good our chemistry is. This shows why Boston defeated LBJ's team in the semis and MVP 2007 KB24 in the Finals.

I dont dispute Lebrons statistics or value to the Cavaliers. I dont always agree with Hollinger either. The point I am trying to make is that I do disagree with the notion that Lebron James is going to be the winner of the MVP award as a foregone conclusion. That is what this has come down to IMO.

If you watch the NBA and I am sure you do, there is no disputing the fact that Lebron James is now the 'Golden Child' and literally can do no wrong. He does not get fouls called against him and and does not get called for traveling. I have watched games with my (now 9 year old) niece who asks after seeing replays "why doesnt he called for traveling, he took too many steps". If she can see the blatant favoritism, then I know others can.

Not even Michael Jordan, Larry Bird or Magic Johnson got away with what Lebron James does. I watched them all for years and never saw this level of star treatment. I do blame Stern and the league for allowing it to happen. They are so money hungry and so worried about player image that they have caused this IMO.

I know a lot of folks will call me a hater and say I dont like Lebron James. That simply isnt true, I just dont like the way he is put on a pedestal and the notion that he can do no wrong. I think it is simply a marketing scam using a great player to make money and nothing more.