It’s that time again. The grind of the NBA season is starting to set in, and it’s only a couple of months until playoff time. This is when the MVP chatter begins to unfold. In baseball, there is an American League MVP and a National League MVP. Basketball is different. When someone is named the most valuable player of the league, they are standing in the spotlight all by their lonesome. There is no East and West MVP. When you win it, you’re the man, and nobody can share that honor with you.
Let’s first keep in mind that being the MVP is not necessarily saying you are the best player in the league. If that were the case, MJ would have enough trophies to feed the entire population of Montana.
Bulls fans are pushing for Derrick Rose to be named MVP in only his 3rd season at the mere age of 22 years old. Like I said, the award is awarded to the most VALUABLE player, not the best player. I think we can all agree, whether you sip on the haterade or not, that LeBron James is the best player in the NBA. However, he plays with another top 5 player and another All-Star in Bosh (which I don’t agree with).
There has been much discussion about who the MVP is recently on major networks like ESPN and TNT. I see all these so called “analyists” throwing out all these ridiculous stats on their blogs that they say shows who the MVP is. I’m going to be honest, I don’t know what all this “PER”, “IMPACT”, and “EFFICIENCY” stats are all about, nor do I care. I use one simple tool to determine my MVP. I open my damn eyes and watch the games.
If you look at all the candidates, if the season ended today, there is no doubt in my mind that Derrick Rose is the MVP. If you argue otherwise, I’m sorry, but you are an idiot. Rose has been without what should have been 2 All-Star players in Boozer and Noah for the entire season to date. Boozer missed the first month, and Noah has been out since around Christmas time. LeBron has Wade. Kobe has Gasol. Durant has Westbrook. Dwight Howard’s Magic are loaded with talent. Amare, well the Knicks just suck. Who has Rose had to rely on, Deng? Kurt Thomas? Bogans–ok, let’s not be silly here!
So this leaves me with two men fighting for the prize. Rose and Dirk Nowitzki. Rose is averaging 24.6ppg along with 5 rebounds and over 8 assists. Dirk is posting a healthy 23/7/2 line. The Mavericks were pitiful when Dirk was out for a few weeks. But, were the Mavs missing two of their top three players? Do the Mavs have Keith Bogans as their starting shooting guard. Hell, Rose should have an award named after him just for getting Bogans to average four points a game. If Rose was out, would the Bulls even make the playoffs? Would they even win a game? I guess I have made my point clear. Stop listening to some idiot on ESPN blab about some stat he pulled out of his ass because he has a man crush on a certain player. Sit down and watch Derrick Rose play. He makes everyone around him better, and ya, the dude can score too.
With all this being said, I leave you today with my video of the day and my current top 5 MVP projections.
1. Derrick Rose 24.6ppg 4.6rpg 8.2apg
2. Dirk Nowitzki 23.2ppg 6.9rpg 2.5apg
3. Dwight Howard 22.3ppg 13.6rpg 1.2apg
4. Kevin Durant 29.3ppg 6.8rpg 2.8apg
5. LeBron James 26.6ppg 7.2rpg 7.3apg
Video of the day:
The Memo II” by NewTone featuring Stacey King and Derrick Rose
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