Did Lebron get robbed of League MVP again?

[ETNCeltics]

NBA didn't get much right. Mitchell should have been ROTY. CBS should have been COTY.

I think MVP was a tossup between AD and Lebron. Lebron was the best player the first half of the year. He coasted the 2nd half, when AD was clearly the best player in the league, and he jumpstarted NO's season after Cousins got hurt. Diavis went 35/13 for the month of February, and put up a better fight against GSW than Lebron did.  Lebron phoned in the 2nd half of the season, especially on D.

[jambr380]

Harden was on the losing end of a 50/50 race three years ago against Curry and last year against Westbrook; I think he deserved it this year based on the Rockets record and games missed by important teammates (especially Paul).

Lebron had fantastic statistics during the regular season and went into god-mode for the playoffs, but I agree with others that he was hardly a leader throughout the season.

[green_bballers13]

The Cavs were underwhelming this regular season. The Rockets were not. This is a regular season award. Harden took his team further and was a little better offensively. Neither were particularly great defensive players this year.

[PaulAllen]

If you remove Lebron from the Cavs they are easily the worst team in the league... nuff said

[gouki88]

If you remove Lebron from the Cavs they are easily the worst team in the league... nuff said

This isn't true at all. They have a legitimate All-Star in Kevin Love. They would still scrap 35-40 wins

[SHAQATTACK]

glade he did not get it


He should have won most improved coach award.

[celticsclay]

If you remove Lebron from the Cavs they are easily the worst team in the league... nuff said

This isn't true at all. They have a legitimate All-Star in Kevin Love. They would still scrap 35-40 wins

Yes I have never understood how people thought love, hill, hood, Thompson, Nance was somehow 20 games worse then walker, mkg, lamb, Howard and Marvin Williams. It makes no sense

[johnnygreen]

Are we going to completely ignore the impact that Chris Paul had on the Rockets? Houston won 10 more games this season, and the only significant change that comes to mind is the addition of Paul. When the Rockets went up 3-2 in the WCF, I turned to my wife and said Houston is going to lose the series because their leader, Chris Paul, looks like he's done with a hamstring injury. I knew Harden didn't have the stones to help lead his team to one more win.

We all witnessed just how good Kyrie Irving is on the Celtics. The Cavaliers traded him and basically got nothing in return that helped them during the season. Yet, Cleveland only had one less win than the previous season. As someone else mentioned, the team also went through a pretty significant trade during the middle of the year, which can cause chemistry issues.

[Moranis]

If you remove Lebron from the Cavs they are easily the worst team in the league... nuff said

This isn't true at all. They have a legitimate All-Star in Kevin Love. They would still scrap 35-40 wins

Yes I have never understood how people thought love, hill, hood, Thompson, Nance was somehow 20 games worse then walker, mkg, lamb, Howard and Marvin Williams. It makes no sense

I'm a big proponent in On/Off numbers when determining things like MVP.  It is why I thought last year, James should have won the award (over Russ, Harden, and Kawhi) and why this year I wouldn't have gone with James.  The simple reality is the Cavs just weren't that much worse when James was on the bench this year.  Last year they were losing games in the 9 minutes James sat on the bench in that game (sometimes there were double digit swings), and that just wasn't the case this year.  Korver actually led the Cavs in On/Off numbers and he was well ahead of James (Hill was 2nd on the team).  Harden didn't lead the Rockets, but he had a bigger differential then James did, and statistically they were very close.  Couple that with the Rockets being the best team in basketball, and I'd have gone Harden.  I would have actually had Davis at 2 with James at 3.  Davis had a very strong On/Off number and really turned it on after Cousins went down and ended up statistically very close to both James and Harden. 

So my ballot was 1. Harden, 2. Davis, and 3. James.  No one else should have realistically been in the discussion.   

That said, I don't think the Cavs team as currently constructed would win 35-40 games without James.  They have no legitimate ball handlers and no one that can really lead an offense.  They have talent, but they don't have any playmakers.  Now if James was replaced with a credible ball handler/play maker, then sure they could be a 35-40 win team.  The entire Cavs team is designed to play with and in support of James.  If he leaves this summer, they will struggle a great deal without him, though Sexton at least has potential to lead an offense at some point (unlikely it would be this year). 

[Big333223]

Robbed? No, not at all. James certainly could have won, but I would have voted for Harden as he had the best overall season.

This. Lebron had a great season but Harden had a slightly better one and did so for a much better team. The difference in wins between Houston and Cleveland is the same as the difference between Cleveland the Lakers. That matters.

[jambr380]

Are we going to completely ignore the impact that Chris Paul had on the Rockets? Houston won 10 more games this season, and the only significant change that comes to mind is the addition of Paul. When the Rockets went up 3-2 in the WCF, I turned to my wife and said Houston is going to lose the series because their leader, Chris Paul, looks like he's done with a hamstring injury. I knew Harden didn't have the stones to help lead his team to one more win.

We all witnessed just how good Kyrie Irving is on the Celtics. The Cavaliers traded him and basically got nothing in return that helped them during the season. Yet, Cleveland only had one less win than the previous season. As someone else mentioned, the team also went through a pretty significant trade during the middle of the year, which can cause chemistry issues.

You are kidding, right?

Paul missed 24 games this year and Houston still managed to have [easily] the best record in the NBA despite only having one All-Star. And, of course Houston lost the series once Paul went down. If any team takes the 2nd best player off their roster they are going to lose to a full-strength GSW team. They literally might be the best team in NBA history! HOU players and coaches should be extremely proud of what they accomplished this year and Harden was at the forefront of it all.

[johnnygreen]

Robbed? No, not at all. James certainly could have won, but I would have voted for Harden as he had the best overall season.

This. Lebron had a great season but Harden had a slightly better one and did so for a much better team. The difference in wins between Houston and Cleveland is the same as the difference between Cleveland the the Lakers. That matters.

I honestly think an argument can be made that Chris Paul was the MVP for Houston. The team had more of a flow on offense because of Paul, instead of just James dribbling the ball for 20 seconds on every play. He also seemed to bring accountability and raised the bar for everyone on the team. Also, if I'm not mistaken, Houston was projected to finish either 1st or 2nd and battle Golden State because of the addition of Chris Paul. The Rockets went from 3rd place in '16-17 (55-27) to 1st place in '17-18 (65-17) with the addtion of Paul. Meanwhile the Clippers went from 4th place in '16-17 (51-31) to 10th place in '17-18 (42-40) after trading Paul.

[Fafnir]

Nope, Harden was better this year.

[celticsclay]

If you remove Lebron from the Cavs they are easily the worst team in the league... nuff said

This isn't true at all. They have a legitimate All-Star in Kevin Love. They would still scrap 35-40 wins

Yes I have never understood how people thought love, hill, hood, Thompson, Nance was somehow 20 games worse then walker, mkg, lamb, Howard and Marvin Williams. It makes no sense

I'm a big proponent in On/Off numbers when determining things like MVP.  It is why I thought last year, James should have won the award (over Russ, Harden, and Kawhi) and why this year I wouldn't have gone with James.  The simple reality is the Cavs just weren't that much worse when James was on the bench this year.  Last year they were losing games in the 9 minutes James sat on the bench in that game (sometimes there were double digit swings), and that just wasn't the case this year.  Korver actually led the Cavs in On/Off numbers and he was well ahead of James (Hill was 2nd on the team).  Harden didn't lead the Rockets, but he had a bigger differential then James did, and statistically they were very close.  Couple that with the Rockets being the best team in basketball, and I'd have gone Harden.  I would have actually had Davis at 2 with James at 3.  Davis had a very strong On/Off number and really turned it on after Cousins went down and ended up statistically very close to both James and Harden. 

So my ballot was 1. Harden, 2. Davis, and 3. James.  No one else should have realistically been in the discussion.   

That said, I don't think the Cavs team as currently constructed would win 35-40 games without James.  They have no legitimate ball handlers and no one that can really lead an offense.  They have talent, but they don't have any playmakers.  Now if James was replaced with a credible ball handler/play maker, then sure they could be a 35-40 win team.  The entire Cavs team is designed to play with and in support of James.  If he leaves this summer, they will struggle a great deal without him, though Sexton at least has potential to lead an offense at some point (unlikely it would be this year).

This was a good post by you. I will give you a tommy point

[ETNCeltics]

Are we going to completely ignore the impact that Chris Paul had on the Rockets? Houston won 10 more games this season, and the only significant change that comes to mind is the addition of Paul. When the Rockets went up 3-2 in the WCF, I turned to my wife and said Houston is going to lose the series because their leader, Chris Paul, looks like he's done with a hamstring injury. I knew Harden didn't have the stones to help lead his team to one more win.

We all witnessed just how good Kyrie Irving is on the Celtics. The Cavaliers traded him and basically got nothing in return that helped them during the season. Yet, Cleveland only had one less win than the previous season. As someone else mentioned, the team also went through a pretty significant trade during the middle of the year, which can cause chemistry issues.

You are kidding, right?

Paul missed 24 games this year and Houston still managed to have [easily] the best record in the NBA despite only having one All-Star. And, of course Houston lost the series once Paul went down. If any team takes the 2nd best player off their roster they are going to lose to a full-strength GSW team. They literally might be the best team in NBA history! HOU players and coaches should be extremely proud of what they accomplished this year and Harden was at the forefront of it all.

Are you kidding? Adding a 20 ppg scorer who had one of the best assist/TO ratios and unlike the defense-averse Harden, is one of the best defensive players in the league wasn't the biggest difference in this year and last?

IIRC, Houston was undefeated deep into the season when Paul, Harden, and Capela were all 3 playing.

Paul's problem is staying healthy, and Harden deserves credit for carrying them when he was out. But we saw in the GSW series the vast difference between Houston with Chris Paul, and Houston without Chris Paul.

Harden was their team mvp, but he is 1 and Paul was 1A. Harden had every opportunity to show if he was a real mvp in game 7 against GSW, and if he'd had even a mediocre game, HOU would be celebrating their first title since Hakeem.