Five Reasons Why LeBron Will Be Le-MVP

LeBron James has been the MVP of the National Basketball Association four times in his career. He did it twice each as a Cavalier the first time around (2009 & 2010), and as a member of the Miami Heat (2011 & 2012). That tally ties him with the great Wilt Chamberlain, and slots him just one behind Michael Jordan and Bill Russell… two behind the incomparable Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He’s been the runner up to the award twice (2006 to Steve Nash; 2013 to Kevin Durant), and been third three other times (2011, 2015 and 2016). In fact, he’s only finished outside the top five twice in his 14 year career… in his first two seasons (9th in 2004 and 6th in 2005).

Last year, the King was almost an afterthought (relatively speaking) as the MVP featured a two horse race between triple double machine, Russell Westbrook, and the newly converted combo guard, James Harden. LeBron actually didn’t even finish in the top three, as Kahwi Leonard squeezed past him for the final seat at the inaugural NBA Awards Presentation. So, why am I so sure The Chosen One will be The Most Chosen One this season? Why am I so bullish that the King will get his fifth MVP crown? Why will LBJ be so damn Valuable this year? Here’s 5 Reasons…

1. Kyrie Might Not Be Around

Even though it’s looking more and more like LeBron and Kyrie might be spending an awkward training camp together in a month or so, there’s still the very real possibility that Uncle Drew could be elsewhere either before the season starts or by the trade deadline. And, even if he isn’t, chances are that his ongoing saga will be a distraction that LeBron will have to overcome, limiting his ability to just coast through the early half of the season. For the sake of argument, let’s say Kyrie does get moved sometime before February. Many of the speculative trades that have been circulated don’t necessarily include a premier level point guard in return for the Cavs. Eric Bledsoe is probably the cream of the trade crop as far as veteran ball-handlers go, and more often than not, the rumored targets for the wine & gold have included young wings (Andrew Wiggins, Josh Jackson, Jayson Tatum) or bigs (Kristaps Porzingis). If a trade like this goes down, guess who’s going to be handling the ball more than ever? That’s right… LeBron. Sure, Derrick Rose is on the team… as are Jose Calderon and Kay Felder. But, if you thought the James Harden experiment at PG last season was revelatory… just wait for this James at the one. It’s not to say that LBJ hasn’t been the primary ball-handler for this team for stretches in the past, but the absence of Kyrie could just provide him with the challenge of spending a season emulating Magic Johnson in earnest. Russ showed averaging a triple double was a reality… LeBron could take it to the next level. Heck, he almost did last year, averaging 26.4 ppg, 8.6 rpg and 8.7 apg…

2. Other Guys Teamed Up

Last summer, when Kevin Durant bolted OKC for the greener pastures of Golden State, he gained himself a perennial shot at a championship. What he lost (aside from the respect of more than a few media pundits at the time) was his shot at perennial MVP awards. After a few years of playing second fiddle to LeBron in the voting, KD finally snagged his lone trophy in 2014. Then, he got hurt. And now, he splits his MVP votes with teammate (and two time MVP) Steph Curry. Yes, he missed a month or so of the season last year, but his stats were still some of the best of his career. It was good for a tie for 9th place with Anthony Davis. Curry also lost some of his MVP sheen, falling to 6th in the voting after his two consecutive awards (the last  he won unanimously). Point being, the Warriors are essentially a team of All-Stars now (including Draymond Green and Klay Thompson), so no one guy has to carry them. They play a game that is fundamentally team oriented, so barring injury or circumstance, it’s much less likely any future MVP’s will find their way to the Bay Area. The guy who benefitted from Durant’s departure, was the eventual 2017 MVP, Russ Westbrook. Russ channeled all of his anger and aggression into jamming the stat sheets, while putting the undermanned Thunder on his back to drag them into the playoffs. That won’t be quite the case this year, as Russ now has Paul George to run with, who will certainly cut into his solo act. Meanwhile, the MVP runner-up, James Harden, will also have to share some of his ball-handling duties with new arrival, Chris Paul. Not to mention, other stars flooded from the East to the West this off-season, providing even more of a spotlight on what LeBron will be up to over the course of the season. His biggest competition might come from other centerpiece guys like Kawhi Leonard, John Wall and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

3. Another Way To Chase The Ghost 

LeBron has been on the record about this…

“My motivation is this ghost I’m chasing. The ghost played in Chicago.”

Mostly, you’d have to believe that he’s talking about championships when he says this. However, given that it’s already impossible to match MJ’s Finals record, and that it’s getting awfully challenging for LeBron to even match the number of titles His Airness locked down, a more achievable milestone is to match him in MVP trophies. After all, LBJ only needs one more of those to equal MJ’s total (not to mention Bill Russell’s who almost doubled MJ’s championship tally). Why not channel all of his energy, ability, annoyance and chutzpah into equalling Michael in this impressive achievement. Jordan won his fifth and final MVP Award in 1998, at age 34, during what would be his last season as a Bull before retiring (he’d come back three years later for two seasons with Washington). LeBron will turn just 33 before this season is over, so he’d have the chance to beat MJ to his own fifth trophy. As we’ve seen, nobody finds ways to self-motivate than LeBron… and nothing gets him going quite like chasing after Mike.

4. The Uncertainty Of The Future

As referenced above, LeBron will turn 33 this year… and Father Time is still unbeaten. The window where LBJ will be considered the top of the NBA mountain is in it’s downward motion. He’ll likely still be a top ten player even when he decides to hang up whatever version of his signature Nike’s are around then, but his time as a true MVP candidate is waning. This year is most likely his last, best chance at running down the trophy if he so chooses. The other factor beyond his own longevity as a player, is the uncertainty that faces his role in the Cavalier franchise going forward. The Kyrie turmoil aside, there are plenty of rumblings and speculation that this season could mark the end once again for the King in the Land. Personally, I believe he’ll stay and retire as the face of the organization, yet, if he does get tempted to spend his twilight years building banana boat squads in Texas or Los Angeles, etc., he’ll be creating a similar problem for himself that KD did by joining the Dubs. If you have a team with four or five current and former All-Stars (say LBJ, Melo, CP3, DWade and another dude), how do any of them separate out as MVP candidates? There’s just not enough onus on one guy’s shoulders to get the job done. If he prefers to sign a max deal to remain/retire in Cleveland… there may still be one or two more chances for an MVP season, however, that largely depends on who and what they get in return for Kyrie going forward (if they trade him). Bottom line… the time to win an MVP is now… because after 2018, time is no longer really on LBJ’s side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drDXrHZqEBw

5. Because Allen Iverson Says So

Okay… I don’t have all the answers, but The Answer has spoken. Talking to the media at the BIG3’s stop in Seattle this weekend, the 2001 MVP picked LeBron as his choice to win the 2018 MVP Award.

Now, according to Odds Shark, LeBron has only the fourth best odds to win the award for this upcoming season (behind Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard), but odds be damned… I see no reason not to roll with AI!

Let’s get the games started already… and GO CAVS!