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Iverson was the deserved MVP of the league in 2001, get over it.
Lebron definetly deserves the award. Congrats to him. Wade is second. Kobe has too much talent on his team to win it. Lebron & Wade just have a bunch of scrubs around them other then Mo Williams & Beasely
Iverson was the deserved MVP of the league in 2001, get over it.
I'm watching Game 7 of the Sixers-Raptors series right now. AI had NOTHING around him. He was the MVP with a bullet that year.
Oh, and Lakaluva... we'll see you in June.
That 2001 Philly team was horrible. No way they should have won 40 games, much less 56, no matter what conference they were in. That's how great Iverson was that season. He carried that team to 56 wins literally by himself. As bad as that team was, that's how great Iverson had to be for that team to be as successful as they were.
Props to Prince James for winning the award. He earned it. We will see in June if he can go from a Prince to a King.
It's been quite a few years since the MVP actually won the Finals too.
It's a wierd stat, just like the one where Coach of the Year's get fired like 2 years later.
The award is a joke considering Kobe is #2 lol
It's cool when it happens.
2003 was amazing as a Duncan fan. MVP, Champion, Finals MVP. It's not my favorite Spurs le, but it was quite a season for Duncan (and me).
Hahah, I was actually looking that up, you beat me to it. I knew it was either Duncan or Shaq that did it last, wasn't sure which of the two it was.It's cool when it happens.
2003 was amazing as a Duncan fan. MVP, Champion, Finals MVP. It's not my favorite Spurs le, but it was quite a season for Duncan (and me
The double Finals MVP & season MVP is pretty sweet.
Its only fair... Stern gave Duncan 4
That's why, IMO, true dominance is winning MVP and finals MVP in the same season.
Is that a record, 12 straight years? Magic is the only person I can think of that might have done that.Spurs Homer here again:
With the two 5th place votes he got this year, Duncan's streak of getting at least some vote in the MVP race in every year of his career continues.
For whatever that's worth.
I'm not going to pretend to have looked at the voting for every player ever, but in just quickly looking over some likely compe ion, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar got MVP votes in each of his first 17 seasons and Shaquille O'Neal got MVP votes in each of his first 13 seasons. In fact, unlike Timmy (who eeked into an 11th place showing in 2008-09), each of those guys finished in the Top 10 in those consecutive years.
So, no. Not a record.
Last edited by FromWayDowntown; 05-04-2009 at 05:33 PM.
pierce 7th and dirk 10th
wtf
dirk should be 5th
Bird; first 14 years
Mailman; 15 straight years.
Tim; not done yet, will continue string unless he gets injured.
congrats LBJ
my man wade got robbed.
Cavs fans should worry about LeCrab being the MVP.
What do KG(Wolves),Nash(2),Dirk,AI and Kobe have in common? 6 MVPS= 0 les
This award is crap. How can Wade be 3rd?
MVP, but no guarantee: NBA les have been elusive for league's best
Bill Livingston/The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND -- History is LeBron James' opponent now, as much as the Celtics, the Magic, the Atlanta Hawks or the Lakers. History is going to be tough.
That is not meant as disrespect to the Hawks, who are the Cavaliers' opponents in the next game, which finally arrives Tuesday night. The Hawks will be a stiffer test than the Miami Heat would have been. But history has been unkind to the NBA's Most Valuable Players in this decade.
Only one regular-season MVP, Tim Duncan of San Antonio in 2002-03, has led his team to the NBA le in the same year since the new century began. He did so by coming close to an unprecedented NBA Finals quadruple double with 20 points, 18 rebounds, 10 assists and eight blocked shots in the close-out game against New Jersey.
No MVP award has ever felt as hollow as the 2006-07 bauble that was given to Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki in mid-May, long after Golden State, which had won 42 games to Dallas' 67, ousted the Mavericks in the first round. Nowitzki, who seemed convinced that the rim was toxic and the paint a minefield, took potshot 3-pointers, went 2-for-13 in the elimination game, and remains the Bill Buckner of MVPs.
Duncan on one hand, Nowitzki on the other.
James is the league's newly minted MVP. He is also the rare young player who can talk knowledgeably about Bill Russell, "Pistol" Pete Maravich, Magic Johnson and Julius Erving. To him, history is not something you watch on ESPN Classic. It is something you make.
The playoffs exaggerate everything because so many crucial plays are compressed into so little time. Every play can become part of the lore: Michael Jordan holding his follow-through after pushing Byron Russell down and hitting the last shot he ever should have taken; Dr. J's Great Leap Forward (and also behind the backboard); Magic Johnson's baby hook; Larry Bird's steal. Every flaw can be remembered too: John Stark's 2-for-18 seventh game.
With league MVPs, so much more is expected. Duncan here, Nowitzki there.
Sports Illustrated put James on the cover in February with the le, "The Power of LeBron." He had too much vim for the SI jinx to hex him. He sure won't be Nowitzki because he can't be intimidated and is in the paint more than an artist at an easel. He is still developing, adding a jump hook, a fadeaway and a classic Brad Daugherty hook. He will need everything because the Cavs will not be favored by the national media should they face the Lakers in the Finals.
Jordan really is the measure for them all. Dominant during the season, he was astounding in the playoffs. Nothing may ever top his 38 points when flu-ridden to will his team to a 90-88 victory in Game 5 of the 1997 Finals against regular-season MVP Karl Malone's Utah Jazz.
Jordan won five MVPs, second to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's six. The Bulls lost in the conference semifinals when he won it in 1987-88. In his other MVP seasons (1990-91, 1991-92, 1995-96, 1997-98, they were champions. Jordan outplayed Charles Barkley and Malone in their MVP years in the Finals.
In basketball, the best players can exert more influence than in other sports. They are expected to win the biggest games. James resumes the quest Tuesday night.
LES UNKIND TO MVPS
Here is a look at the MVPs of the NBA in this decade, how their team fared in the playoffs, who won the championship and who was Finals MVP:
* 2000-01: Allen Iverson, Sixers -- Philadelphia lost in Finals to L.A. Lakers, with Shaquille O'Neal as Finals MVP.
* 2001-02: Tim Duncan, Spurs -- San Antonio lost in West semifinals to L.A. Lakers, as O'Neal won Finals MVP.
* 2002-03: Duncan -- San Antonio won NBA championship, and he was named Finals MVP (above).
* 2003-04: Kevin Garnett, Timberwolves -- Minnesota lost in West finals. Detroit's Chauncey Billups was Finals MVP.
* 2004-05: Steve Nash, Suns -- Phoenix lost in West finals, as San Antonio's Tim Duncan was Finals MVP.
* 2005-06: Nash -- Phoenix lost in West finals to Dallas; Miami's Dwyane Wade was Finals MVP.
* 2006-07: Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks -- Dallas lost in first round; San Antonio's Tony Parker was Finals MVP.
* 2007-08: Kobe Bryant, Lakers -- Los Angeles lost in NBA Finals, as Boston's Paul Pierce was Finals MVP.
LeBron vs. former MVPs
By Beacon Journal staff
Here is how LeBron James measures up with the past 10 MVPs.
• Only two of the past 10 Most Valuable Players have averaged more points throughout a season than James did this year (28.4). Shaquille O'Neal averaged 29.7 points during the 1999-2000 season. Allen Iverson averaged 31.1 points the following season.
• Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash is the only one to average more assists in a season than James, which he did twice. Nash averaged 11.5 assists in 2004-2005 and 10.5 assists in 2005-2006, claiming MVP honors in each year. James averaged 7.2 assists this season.
• Only two former MVPs during that span averaged more steals. Kobe Bryant averaged 1.8 steals during his 2007-2008 season, barely slipping past James' 1.7 average this year. Iverson dwarfed them both with 2.5 steals during the 2000-2001 season.
• Four of those players have averaged more rebounds in a season than James. Tim Duncan did it twice when he won back-to-back MVP honors during the 2002-2003 (12.9 RPG) and 2001-2002 seasons (12.7 RPG). O'Neal (13.6 rebounds in 1999-2000) and Kevin Garnett (13.9 RPG in 2003-2004) both averaged more than James' 7.6 rebounds this season. Yet those players play in the post and will naturally grab more rebounds. The only wing player James did not outrebound is Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, who averaged 8.9 rebounds during his 2006-2007 MVP season and is also 7 feet tall.
• Bryant and Garnett join James as the only three players who averaged at least five rebounds and five assists during their MVP season. Bryant averaged 6.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists and averaged 28.3 points in 2007-2008. Garnett averaged 13.9 rebounds, five assists and 24.2 points in 2003-2004. James is the most well-rounded of the bunch with his averages of 7.6 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 28.4 points.
We are all witnesses.
We can only dream.
So I guess ESPN is happy. Somewhere Stuart Scott and Ric Bucher are jacking off to a photo of LeBron with the trophy.
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