The MVP race in the NBA seems to be wide open this season. Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant (the two winners of the last three awards) are on the same team. Russell Westbrook and James Harden probably won’t win enough games. LeBron James coasts through the regular season. The stage is set for a new player to emerge as the most valuable player.
LeBron has previously mentioned that he can still win the MVP. But now he’s caping for his teammate, Kyrie Irving, as a potential winner.
Following via Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal:
“Why not?” asked James, who famously predicted last season that Irving could have MVP awards in his future. “His ability to lead a team and his ability to score and get guys involved, we’re going to continue to improve as a team, we’re going to be right up there with the league leaders in wins, so why not?
“I think the sky’s the limit for the kid. He’s only [24] years old … He hasn’t even gotten to his prime yet.”
“He doesn’t have any weaknesses, especially offensively,” James said. “He’s been great so far. If guys take away his driving lanes he’s able to create off the dribble, make pull-up jumpers. He can shoot the 3-ball, too, so he doesn’t have any weaknesses offensively so it doesn’t matter.”
I’ll be honest; the first time I read through that quote, I laughed at the “no weaknesses” line as I immediately thought about defense. But to LeBron’s credit, he was fairly genuine there.
Offensively, Kyrie is a pretty elite player. He can get to the rim, draw fouls, and shoot from range. His passing and playmaking can be subpar at times but he is a dynamic player on that end of the floor.
Is that enough to be an MVP candidate? Probably, especially considering the Cavs should have the best record in the East. That said, it’s hard to imagine media members to give a significant amount of votes to Kyrie Irving while he plays alongside LeBron.
