With the NBA season winding down, two players are neck-and-neck in the MVP race: James Harden and Stephen Curry. There are some others in the conversation as well, such as Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Anthony Davis, and LeBron James.
Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard J.R. Smith, acquired midseason from the New York Knicks, thinks that his teammate LeBron James deserves the award. Smith told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:
“Who? The real MVP?” Smith said, his message echoing to the sellout crowd of 20,562 who were making their way to the exits. “There’s a lot of speculation about who should get the award, but we all know who the real MVP is.”
“In actuality, if you really wanted to, you could give it to him every year,” Smith said. “I mean, the numbers, what he does for teams. You see one year removed from a team like Miami — and they probably won’t even make the playoffs — to a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since he left and then, all of the sudden, we’re a 52-win team. So, I don’t think you can do that with anybody else that’s in our league right now.
Smith was careful not to cause drama by dissing the other candidates, telling McMenamin:
“Not to knock anything from the other two guys [Stephen Curry and James Harden]. They’re having great years, career years for both of them, but if you want to be realistic about it, you could give it to him every time.”
Smith has a point. LeBron puts up consistently excellent numbers year after year. However, in a season where guys like Harden, Curry, and Westbrook have exploded for career years, it’s hard to justify giving the award to someone whose stats have significantly dipped since last year(even if that someone is LeBron).
James is averaging less points and rebounds than he did last season, but his shooting is what has decreased the most. LeBron’s 48.8% from the field is his worst since the 2007-08 season, and his 35.4% 3-point shooting is his worst since 2010-11. Even James’ free throw shooting has dropped – his 71% from the charity stripe is his lowest mark since 2006-07.
Even with all these decreases, obviously LeBron’s numbers are still fantastic, and his impact on a team can’t be measured in numbers. However, this is the most competitive MVP field we’ve seen in quite some time, and there are simply players who deserve the award more than James does.
